DC Prime: The Flash
by Prime Fiction
Summary: Part of the DC Prime Universe: New universe but the same old Scarlet Runner! Theirs a lot of speedsters out there, but theirs only one...I mean four Flash's. And now they've come together, so the Flash can literally be everywhere at once. But can these heroes work as a team to defeat the likes of Grodd & The Rouges. Or will we see how dysfunctional the Flash Family really is.
1. Welcome To The Family

**Flash #1 **

**Welcome To The Family **

Keystone City - 1971

In a warehouse deep in the slums of Keystone City, the notorious mob boss Sieur Satan and his gang are holding Joan Williams the daughter of the famous scientist Arthur Williams for ransom. She is chained up and is suspended above the mobsters. She attempts to wiggle out of the chains but to know avail. She's trapped and can't do anything about it. One of the mobsters points at her and whispers something in the ear of one of his partners. They both laugh and give Joan a sinister smile. Instantly she begins to panic, afraid of what they have planned.

Sieur: You better hope your father brings the money or your going to wish that we killed you

One of the mobsters walks up Joan's suspended body, and begins to slowly caress her legs.

Mobster, with a sinister grin: Oh you don't want to know what I'm going to do with you

?: Now that's not how you talk to a young lady

Mobster: Huh?

The mobsters turn around, and see Jay Garrick the Flash bravely standing before them. He has a smile on his face, but theirs no confidence behind it. A nervous bead of sweat goes down his for head, and he hopes they don't notice. This being his first attempt at utilizing his powers for something like this, Jay is obviously terrified.

Mobster: Who the hell are you?

Jay, thinking: Who am I? My name? I can't tell them my real name! Granted they've already seen my face but…

Sieur: Shoot 'em!

Jay, snapping out of his thoughts: Wait what!

The mobster's raise the their guns at the hero, and begin to send out a barrage of bullets in his direction.

Jay: Crap

Without even thinking about it Jay begins to dodge every one of the bullets, even grabbing some with his bare hands. The mobsters stop their fire once they realize that their bullet have no effect. They stare at him with disbelief, unable to comprehend what they had just saw. Even Joan the woman Jay is trying to save is shocked and a little terrified.

Sieur, shocked: What the hell are you?!

Jay looks down at his attempting to form an answer, but honestly he's not sure what to say. But Then it hits.

Jay looks up, smiles at them, and says: The Flash

Central City - 1999

Barry Allen is working hard in the Central City crime lab. It's dark, there is a raging storm out side, and the young forensic scientist is alone. Everyone had gone home to their beds, but Barry cant do that. A teenage boy had been accused of killing his own mother, but Barry knew that he was innocent. The only problem is that he couldn't proof it. All the evidence pointed at this young boy, but Barry couldn't believe that he killed his mother.

Barry: Ugh...Maybe it's just wishful thinking...It's not like something like this hasn't happen before. With all these maniacs running around it's possible that his kid did it...but...

As Barry get's distracted by his own thoughts a gust window causes the window of the crime lab to fling open.

Barry, getting up: Uhg...Again?

Barry walks up to the window to shut it. As he get's ready to close it a bolt of lighting shoots out from the skies. The bolt manages to make it's way through the window, and hit Barry right in the chest. This sends Barry back into a rack chemicals, causing all the vats to fall and spill all over him.

Barry: Oh god! oh god!

Barry frantically get's up, and makes his way to an emergency shower. He pools the large lever, and is showered with water. The water is cold, and freezes Barry down to the bone.

He remains their till the water runs out.

Barry, stepping out: Should I go to the doctors? I mean I feel perfectly fine. (Beat) No Barry! Your professional of course you have to!

Barry grabs his coat, and treks his soaking body to the door. As he's walking he glances out the window. At first he doesn't notice anything, but then he does a double take. Unsure of he sees, Barry walks up to the window, and takes a better look. Everything seems to be moving in slow motion. Every man, woman, child, car, animal, and more looks as if they had stepped inside a matrix movie. Barry scratches his eye's thinking maybe that the chemicals are messing with them. He takes one more look, and still the same.

Barry: Ooh no…This isn't good

Central City - 2003

As usual the streets of Central City are busy. Adults going to work, kids going home from school, and on cue the two fastest men Jay Garrick and Barry Allen are on a high speed chase after The Trickster.

Barry: Give up Trickster we both know we're just going to catch you…again

Trickster: Don't be so cocky Flash! This time I got a little trick under my sleeve

Jay, jokingly: Didn't he say that last week?

The Trickster get's furies at Jay's comment because he knows it's true. But he's determined to make it out of this one. He looks over at his side view mirror, and sees that the two Flash's are gaining on him. He then press's a button on his steering wheel, and his car gets a sudden boost of speed. To his and the Flash's surprise the boost sends him soaring farther then any device he's used before. The two Flash's make a sudden stop, with dumb founded looks on their faces. The Trickster sees this threw his mirror, and it creates a large grin on his face.

Trickster: Seeya suckers! HAHAHAHAHA! Ain't gonna catch me this time!

Jay smiles and turns around to a figure walking to the two Flash's.

Jay: Your turn kid! Show 'em what ya got

?: Ok hopefully I wont disappoint…

Jay: Don't worry it's just the Trickster…Easy fish to fry

?: You're right

The figure takes a step, and instantly rockets past the two Flash's.

Jay: Wow he's fast

Barry: Not faster than us

Jay: Of course

Trickster: Hahaha! Tahiti here I come!

?: Sorry not today

Trickster: What?

The Trickster turns his head, and out his car window he sees running aside his car is Wally West the Kid Flash.

Trickster: Wait! what?

The Trickster is obviously shocked. Sense he started this life of crime he's had to till deal with two of the fastest men alive, but Wally West has shown him that just when he thought he was getting comfortable he would now have to face…

Trickster: Three! Theirs three Flash's now!?

Wally: They call me Kid Flash! But yeah theirs three of us now

Trickster: Doesn't matter! I'll still get away!

The Trickster press the button on the steering, but this time nothing happens.

Trickster: What?!

The Trickster press the button again, but nothing happens. He begins to continuously press the button, but in the end it's the same result.

Trickster: What the hells going on?!

Wally: Oh! Are you looking for this?

The Trickster turns to Wally, and sees that he's holding the very device that gave his car the extra boost.

The Trickster: How'd you-

Wally: Get this thing? Dude I run at the speed of light…I can do a lot of things. Like this!

Trickster: Wha?

Wally then begins to use his super speed to dismantle the Trickster's car, piece by piece. Within seconds there is nothing but his seat and steering wheel left.

Trickster: GOD DAMN IT!

Wally: Come on dude did you seriously think that you could escape from someone who runs at the speed of light? I mean you go through this a lot…

Trickster, frustrated: Shut up! Just take me to jail already!

Wally turns around to the sight of Jay and Barry running to him.

Wally: So how'd I do?

Jay: You did good for your first time

Barry: Yeah but Kid Flash?

Wally: What? I thought it had a nice ring to it…

Trickster, under his breath: Well it's dumb

Wally: Say's the person with unimaginative name like Trickster

Keystone City - 2008

As the good people of Keystone City go by their business, a blur of Speed force energy goes zooming past them. Seeing this many times before they all think that it's one of the three Flash's patrolling the city. But they're wrong, it's not of the heroes. The energy is coming from Bart Allen, straight from the future, and ready to explore the present.

Bart: Oh my god! It worked! The time machine really worked! (Beat) But what now?

Not knowing where to go Bart moves through every corner of the city with excitement. He even takes some items off of people along the way, obviously forgetting about the concept of stealing. Bart then stops at an ally to look he's newly stolen treasures.

Bart, holding an iPhone up to his face: Wow…Look at this antic. I wonder how it works.

Bart begins to play around with phone, but stops when he hears his stomach growl loudly.

Bart: God I'm hungry…Nate did say that time traveling would take a lot out of me…

Bart begins to run around looking for something to eat. He spots a hot dog vender, and heads over to him. The vender has just finished making a hot dog, and Bart get's ready to snatch it from the man. He stretches his arm out, but before he can get any closer to the vender Bart is pulled back by a hand on his shoulder.

Bart, turning around: What the hell-Oh god

Bart's mind goes blank at the sight of all three Flash's standing in front of him. He's attempting to form words, but can't think of anything to say.

Bart: I-well-uhm…

Jay: Now calm down son

Barry: How about I buy you one, and then you can explain everything…Sounds good with you?

Bart: Ye-Yeah

Barry: Ok good

Central City – Present Day

All four Flash's are sitting at a table in a small dinner. Jay, Wally, and Bart are all look confused by what Barry had just told them.

Wally: The Flash Family?

Barry: That's just the tentative name

Bart: So sense we all use the name Flash you want us to stay connected and work as a team?

Barry: Yeah…I saw how Batman did this with the heroes in Gotham, and some around the world. So I figured we should try it.

Bart: But we do that already

Barry: Yes...but I'm suggesting we be more organized. In constant communication with each other...

Jay: We'll be like a well oiled machine

Barry: Exactly! Plus we're not the only people who have control over the speed force, and we wont be the last. So this could be the start of something bigger…Sooner or later we can get people like Max Mercury or Jesse Quick in this too.

Wally: We'd be the like the Green lanterns…A 'Flash Corps'

Barry: Haha! Yeah but I don't think we'll be nearly as big as the Green Lantern corps…

Unknown Location – Some Time In The Future

Bart Allen is walking through dark corridor. He is now a grown adult and all banged up from what could only assume to be from decades of experience. He reaches a metal door at the end of the corridor. Bart put's hand on a hand scanner and it slides open. Behind the door is a large crowd of people. Men, Woman, Boys, Girls, and even alien, but they all have something in common. The legendary Flash insignia some where on their body. Bart walks out of the corridor, and the crowd quits. Bart stares at them, and they stare back. He then stares past them all, and looks at three statues. On the left is a bronze statue of Wally West, on the right is a golden statue of Jay Garrick, and in the center is a silver statue of Barry Allen. Bart smiles at the statues.

Bart, thinking: Wouldn't get as big as the green lantern corps…Barry if only you could see this…

Bart's focus goes back at the crowd, and his smile disappears.

Bart: Welcome to the Flash Family...

TBC in Issue 2: Home & Savior Part 1


	2. Welcome to Gorilla City! Part 1

**The Flash Issue 2**

**"Welcome to Gorilla City!" Part 1**

**Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

><p><strong>Central City, The Allen's House; Monday:<strong>

The sunrise shined through the windows into the bedroom where Barry Allen, also known as the Flash, and his wife Iris West-Allen inhabit. Barry woke up, and he turned to the other side of the bed to see a overly cheerful Iris staring straight into his eyes.

"Mmm….Good morning, Iris," a still drowsy Barry said. "You're still here?" Iris nodded.

"Why's that?" Barry asked. "I would've thought you'd be off to work by now." This was especially surprising to Barry. Iris usually woke up early enough to get to her work before anyone else could.

"I would've," Iris responded, "But while I was in the bathroom getting myself ready, I figured something out. Something **wonderful, **Barry."

"We won the lottery?!" he said sarcastically. Iris couldn't help but laugh at Barry's joke.

"I wish…" Iris joked. "But no. It's not the lottery. It's something **much **better than that."

"Honey, I don't know how you could get any better than winning the lottery."

"Oh, believe me, I think it can."

"Well, are you going to say what the big news is?"

Iris figured he might as well show him. She held up a pregnancy test, with the results showing a green plus sign. Barry looks at the results, rubs his eyes and looks at it again. Barry was speechless.

"Is that what I think it means?" Barry asked.

"Yes, Barry," Iris answered. "You're going to be a father!"

Barry's mouth was wide open, and his eyes were frozen staring at the pregnancy tests results. Iris was a bit worried from this reaction. But she didn't expect to see Barry's response. "YES!" he yelled out. He jumped right out of his bed in excitement. He speeds over to Iris and starts dancing with her, but too fast enough for her to catch up.

"Whoa! Slow down, Barry!" said Iris. "You're taking this news better than I thought you would."

"Are you **kidding **me?!" said Barry. "I mean, this is fantastic!"

"I'm glad you're excited, and I am too," Iris brings her arms around Barry's shoulders. "We're going to be **parents,** Barry!"

* * *

><p><strong>Keystone City; The West's House:<strong>

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

The alarm clock had been going off for about five minutes, as our 15 year old Wally Allen smacked his arm onto the alarm clock which stops the alarm from continuing. Wally rises up from his bed and stretches his arms and releases a large yawn.

"Ugh… **Monday…" **

Downstairs in the Kitchen, Rudy and Mary West, Wally's parents are already up. Rudy is sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, wearing a simple polo shirt and pants, while Mary was at the stove cooking Wally's breakfast for him when he would finally get up from bed. A still drowsy Wally enters into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Wally," greeted Wally's Mom as her son entered into the kitchen.

"Morning, son," his dad also responded.

"Ah… morning, Mom. Dad," Wally yawned.

"Here's your breakfast, Wally," Mary said, and she hands him a plate of eggs and bacon.

"Thanks, mom," said Wally, and he began to dig into his breakfast. The phone ranged, and Mary walked over towards the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?" asked Mary into the Phone. "Hi, Iris! How are you?"

"So, what's going on at school, today?" asked Rudy.

"Oh, the usual stuff," Wally answered. "English this, Math that, run that many miles in 10 minutes. You know how it goes."

"What about your grades? How are those right now?"

"Last time I checked, I was passing all of my classes."

"And when was the last time you checked your grades?"

"Um… I think it was a month ago?"

"Wally…" Rudy said sternly.

"Alright, alright, I'll check to see if I'm good in my classes. Don't worry."

"Good."

"You're **what?!" **Mary blurted out.** "**Oh, that's wonderful!"

Rudy turned around from his chair to stare at his wife. "What is it, Mary?" he asked.

"Your sister is pregnant!" Mary said.

"Pregnant?" Wally asked. "You mean, I'm getting a cousin?"

"That's great news!" Rudy said. "Let me talk to her." Mary hands her husband the phone. Wally looks down at his watch to notice that it was 7:25. His school started it's day at 7:30. Wally quickly ate the rest of his breakfast in haste. Once he was finished with his breakfast, he grabbed his backpack and was just about to head out of the door before he looked back at his parents. "Gotta go! Love you both!" And just like that, Wally bolted out of the house.

Wally wasn't as fast as the other speedsters, but he was still fast enough to arrive near the front doors of his school in 15 seconds flat. The Keystone High School was large, with over four floors, including a basement, and covered about half a block.

The size of the school is to accommodate the fact that it's the only high school in the city. To make sure no one caught him speeding into the school, he stopped himself about a block away from the school, and walked the rest of the block to his school.

When he arrived at the front entrance, he heard the voices of his two best friends; Peter Jaspin and Linda Parks, who noticed Wally entering into the school behind him. Peter had messy dirty blond hair, and was dressed in a loose t-shirt and jeans, while Linda was more well dressed, with wavy black hair, and wore a button up shirt and a patterned skirt.

Wally always had a massive crush on Linda, and the sight of the typical Linda that he's use to seeing always reminds him why he even had a crush on her in the first place.

"Hey, Wally!" his friend Peter called out. "How you doing?"

"Great, as always," Wally responded with.

"What did you do over the weekend?" Linda asked.

"A **whole **lot of sleeping," answered Wally. "But, I did get some news from my Aunt this morning. She's pregnant."

"Really? Oh, tell her I said congratulations!" said Linda.

"I will, if I remember that is."

"Did you study for the test in Mr. Weisman's class?" Peter asked.

There was a long pause after that question. Wally had to try to process what Peter had just told him. "_Crap!" _he thought. _"Was there really a test today, and I didn't __**study **__for it?" _"There was a test?" Wally asked.

"Yeah. He said it was gonna be today, remember?"

"Uh… yeah! I sure did!" Wally said, clearly lying through his thick teeth. "I wouldn't forget about anything like that. Nope. Not at all…"

"... You didn't study for the test, did you?" said Linda.

"Nope," Wally said ashamedly.

"Ugh, Wally," said an aggravated Linda.

"Hey, hey! It's no biggie, really. I can probably get my way through the test. It's not like I'm failing his class or anything…"

* * *

><p><strong>Streets of Central City:<strong>

Bart Allen was suppose to be at school today. Ever since he traveled to present time, Barry and Iris took him in as a member of their family. Bart didn't feel like he was obligated to go to school, because he was from a different time period. All the facts they'd be telling him, he already knew, plus important history dates that hasn't even happened yet.

He figured why bother. Instead of going to school, he thought he would travel around the streets of Central City, to learn more about modern day society front and center, and not by sitting down in a classroom with a teacher who probably didn't care for their job enough to give a damn. It was certainly better than learning about algebra. Besides, Bart hated being confined. He was always on the go, never wanting to stop moving.

Bart was a bit shocked to see so many similarities to present day Central City and the future Central City. There were well known buildings and monuments that were still in place in his time. Not to mention that there were still "good parts" and "bad parts" of Central City. Right now, Barry was in the bad part. Homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks, really shady people with black jackets, and thugs wandering around with their pants below their waste.

And then there was Bart, wearing a simple jacket and hat, with a backpack and dark grey pants. Most people were peculiar about the presents of some young teenager roaming around these parts of town, thinking that he should be in school, getting some education. But to Bart Allen, Impulse and speedster from the future, this was his education.

Bart walked passed an alleyway, when he noticed three teenagers, two guys and one girl, wearing hoodies. There were bags on the ground besides the three teens, full of cans for different types of graffiti. Bart's curiosity made him enter into the alleyway to confront those three teens.

"What'cha guys doing?" Bart intruded on the three teens work. The three teens looked over at Bart feeling hesitant at his appearance, fearing that he might get them in trouble.

"Uh… nothing?" The girl full of lip and nose piercings spoke out. "This has none of your business, kid. Maybe you should get lost."

"But I wanna know what you're doing," Bart persisted. "Wow, cool art you've made there."

"You… you think so?" the Girl said.

"Definitely. What do you use to make that art with?" asked Bart.

There was a long pause. The girl just stared at Bart in disbelief. How is this kind not aware about graffiti? Was he raised under a rock? To her, and to her friends, that's where he just came from. "You've never heard of graffiti before, kid?" she finally spat out.

"No… I lived a sheltered life." Figured, she though. The girl was right on the mark with that.

"Aw, man," one of the boys spoke out. "That must've been real hard on you, kid."

"Eh, you get use to it," Bart simply answered. "Can I try this **graffiti** stuff out?"

"Sure," the girl said. She hands Bart a can of graffiti to him. Bart walks up towards the wall and begins to spray the graffiti onto the wall. As he learns more about the graffiti, he starts to paint faster, with his super speed. The final result was of a picture of a incredibly detailed drawing: Bart RULES! The three kids were amazed by Bart's speed and abilities.

"Holy crap!" said the other boy, with his mouth wide open from what he saw what Bart did. "You got yourself some speed!"

"This stuff is **so **freaking crash!" Bart yelled out in excitement.

"Crash?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, It means good, or awesome," Bart explained.

"Crash, eh?" one of the boys said. "I like it. Sounds new and hip."

"I'm Bart, by the way, if you couldn't tell by the thing behind me."

"I'm Keighley," she told him. "And this is Josh and Carmine. You know what? Why don't you come with us and we can do some more graffiti stuff around the city?"

"Now **that **would be totally crash!"

Keystone City; Nursing Home:

A small moving truck pulled over and parked right outside of a nursing home. Behind the truck was an old brown car that parked behind the truck. Jay Garrick, the original Flash, and his wife Joan exited out of the car. A staff from the Nursing Home came out and approached them.

"Hello there," the staff member said. She stuck her hand out for the two to shake.

"My name is Jennifer, and welcome to the Rooker McCoy's Nursing Home here in Keystone. Are you from around here?"

"Yeah, we lived in Keystone City for years now," answered Jay.

"Well, I see you've got your moving truck here," said Jennifer. "I'll get some more of our nurses to help you bring in your things. Come with me, I'll take you to your room." Jay and Joan followed Jennifer into the Nursing Home lobby.

After a few glimpse of the lobby, she brought the two to show them their new home. It looked like any other nursing home, with dull light colors covering the top have of most rooms, with the bottom half being colored in a darker color, with a fancy designed wood carving separating the light and dark colors all throughout the nursing home. To Joan, it felt like home, but to Jay, it was the exact opposite.

An elevator ride three stories up later, Jennifer brought Jay and Joan to their room. It was very spacey, with two beds already set up, with the rest up for the two's belongings.

"Well, here you are," said Jennifer. "This'll be where you'll be staying. Our staff should be coming up with your stuff right now. I'll be back shortly." Jennifer left. Joan walked over towards one of the beds and sits on it, touching her hand on the rough blankets. "It's a nice place," commented Joan. "Makes it feel very homey."

"It doesn't feel like home to me," said Jay. "I feel like I'm in prison."

"Oh, stop it," Joan said. "It may not be home, but it's comfortable." She looked up at Jay with a barren face on him. "Jay, I know you're worried about me, about my Alzheimer's, and I appreciate that. We're going to get through this, Jay."

"I know, I know," said Jay. "It's just… you have **Alzheimer's. **There's no way to try to get rid of it, you have it for the rest of your days. I… I'm just afraid of the day that you'll forget about me, about whom I am and what I do."

"I understand. Then let us enjoy the rest of our days here… together…"

Central City Police Department:

Barry Allen was sitting at his desk with a big huge grin on his face, working through data analysis, when a fellow worker of his, Patty Spivot, a female around Barry's age with a pixie cut hair and glasses and Barry's assistant in the lab peaked into Barry's work area.

"Morning, Barry," greeted Patty.

Barry looked up to Patty. "Morning, Pat," Barry responded back with.

"Why the large grin?" Patty asked.

"Big news, Pat. I'm going to be a **father.**"

"Oh, that's great!" Patty said. "Have you said told the others about it?"

"Not yet. I needed to get this work done, before the Chief rides my butt about it."

"Well, most of us are about to watch a special press conference being held outside of Central City."

"Really?" Barry asked, as he got up from his desk and proceeded out of his work place with Patty. "What for?"

"You know that place that they've been building a few dozen miles outside of Central City?"

"Yeah, isn't that just some large _Disneyworld _like park?"

"Well, apparently it's a **city."**

"A city? Wouldn't have they said something about it?"

"Apparently it's been kept in secrecy for all this time."

"Hm... That's odd." Barry and Patty them joined in with the small group of their co-workers and friends, including intern Kristen Kramer, Crime Lab Director David Singh, Forensic DNA specialist James Forrest, and Captain Frye. James turned around to see Barry and Patty joining in.

"Hey, Barry!" said James, "How you doing?" The rest of Barry's friends turned around to greet him as well.

"I'm fine, and I've got great news too." Barry was about to talk, but was cut short when Captain Frye hushed them all and told them to pay attention to the television screen. The Press Conference was starting…

_On the screen, a podium was set up, in front of a large gate; behind it was a large city like location. There was a large crowd full of anxious reporters wanting to get into the announcement of a secret city not revealed to have been in construction. The Channel 8 WJBO logo appears in flashy red and white colors, which then transitions to a shot of Iris West-Allen there at the scene for the Press Conference. _

"_Good afternoon, Central City," Iris said to her viewers. "I'm Iris West-Allen reporting to you live outside miles away from Central City, where a surprise Press Conference was announced today by a spokesperson for the founder of this mysterious city. The press conference is about to start any minute now, so stay tuned. Am I able to say something, Jake? Alright, then, well I have a very special announcement; my husband and I are expecting a child." _

As soon as she says that, the rest of the staff stared back at Barry to give him a lot of compliments for the news given from his wife through the television. Someone pointed back at the television to see that the Press Conference has begun.

_Walking towards the Podium was a large gorilla, walking on just his feet and in a suit tailored to fit his size. He adjusts the microphone and begins to speak. "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen," said this large gorilla capable of speaking in coherent sentence. _"Oh, no," _Barry thought to himself. _"It's Grodd."

"_For those of you who might be surprised about who or __**what **__I am, my name is Gorilla Grodd," he explained. "I am a part of a race of Gorillas experimented on in Africa, given high intelligence and many more powers given. After we were __gained __our freedom I wanted to give my own kind a new home; one where they could live and feel like human beings if they wanted to join with me. And so, I built this city. I am proud to announce to you this entire wonderful city..." two other Gorillas climbed onto the gate, and pulled off a drape which covered the top of the gate, revealing the sign 'Gorilla City' in black and grey colorings. _

"_Welcome, to Gorilla City!"_

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued in The Flash Issue 3!<strong>


	3. Welcome to Gorilla City! Part 2

**The Flash Issue 3**

**"Welcome to Gorilla City!" Part 2**

**Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

><p><strong>Rail yard in Central City; Evening:<strong>

Countless carrier trains and Oil trains are stored here in the Railway center in Central City, like any other railway location. There was nothing else special about it, as it was your average railway station; full of empty trains that were _covered _in graffiti left behind by other troublemakers. And low and behold, troublemakers came.

Bart, Josh, Carmine and Keighley snuck past the gates into the station, with graffiti in their hands, ready to vandalize public property with their art. To keep out anyone from making an attempt to vandalize on the trains themselves, there were guards roaming around the station, to catch anyone who entered. The four of them stopped to take a glimpse of their surroundings.

"Alright, this is what we're gonna do, Bart; we're gonna spray this graffiti on the newer trains that have arrived here," Carmine explained. "There's gonna be guys roaming around the place making sure no one's doing this stuff, so you've got to be really quiet about this."

"But here's the deal, Bart," Josh interrupted. "With your speed, you and Keighley will be doing the graffiti painting. We on the other hand, are going to help distract the guards away from you. We don't want **anyone **to know that we're here."

"Sounds fair," Bart agreed. "Alright, you ready, Keighley?"

"Ready, Bart," Keighley said.

"Alright, let's do this," Carmine said. Keighley and Bart both ran over to a brand new white oil tank train, as the two of them began to spray the graffiti on the train. Keighley rushed to make some sort of symbol, while Bart had already completed one graffiti painting on one of the trains. Carmine and Josh went on lookout, hiding behind or under the trains. So far, no one was around to see them enact their shenanigans. While Keighley was in the middle of making a symbol, Bart's head popped up from the train to her right side. "Got anymore cans?" Bart requested.

"What do you mean?" asked Keighley. "You… you've used up all the graffiti cans up **already**?"

"Yeah," Bart responded nonchalantly. "I've already spray painted** twenty** other trains."

"**What?**" Keighley said. "That's crazy!"

"I know, right? This is so much fun!"

"Guys," Carmine whispered, "Plenty of guys are coming over here."

"Uh oh," Bart muttered. "We gotta get out of here."

"Right on that," said Josh. Both he and Carmine got out under the train, and all four of them bolted off, but they were caught running. "Hey, you!" one of the train workers called out. "Stop them!" They all chased after to the kids.

From the kids perspective, they were at a home run. Josh and Carmine both sprinted past the front gates. Keightley looked back however, seeing one of the bags drop behind her. She turned back to try to retrieve the bag, but when she tried to run back out, one of the workers gripped her wrist. "We've got you now!" one of the workers proclaimed, "You're in **big **trouble, young girl!"

"Let go of me!" cried Keighley.

"Not until we call the police and contact your parents," another worker said. Just then, a gush of windswept them all back. When they looked back, she was gone.

Bart sprinted far away from the train station, holding Keighley in his arms. He stopped near a very shady neighborhood, and he placed Keighley's feet onto the ground.

"Woah," she said. "That was... freaking **crash!** So, are you one of those speedsters like the Flash?"

"Correctomundo!" answered Bart. "I'm Impulse, just so you're wondering."

"Wow, that's awesome. That explains how you could paint so fast."

"Indeed. Hey, we should probably get back home."

"Yeah, my mother is gonna **kill** me if I'm not back soon. My house is actually not that far from here. You can walk me home, if you'd like."

"That'd be totally crash."

Keystone City; The West's House:

Wally West and Linda Parks were walking back to his home together. It was almost five o'clock, and the sun was just starting to set. Wally felt dissatisfied with himself, and Linda was looking at him with disappointment. "I can't believe I'm failing Mr. Weisman's class," Wally said upsettingly.

"I told you, you should've studied, Wally," told Linda. "And you should've been paying attention to your grades too."

"I know, I know. I've been… just not paying too much attention to it than I should've."

"But why, Wally?"

"Let's just say, I've been busy with my own stuff. Oh, man, dad's gonna **kill **me when I tell him."

"I'm sure he'd understand."

"You don't know my dad at all, Linda. He's not a guy who's pleased to hear his son's failing English class."

"Then tell him the truth." The two approached the front door to Wally's house. He turned back at Linda. "I warned you," he said. He turned the doorknob and the two entered into the house. The house was overfull of the smell of pasta sauce and parmesan. Wally inhaled a deep breath of that wonderful smell escalating around the house. "Ah, there's nothing better but the fresh smell of parmesan."

"Is that you, Wally?" called Mary from the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's me!" Wally responded back. "Linda's over, too! She's going to get some of her books she left here!"

"That's fine! Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes!"

Wally brought Linda up to his bedroom, where she saw her books on Wally's cluttered desk. Linda and Wally went back down to the front doors, when they saw Rudy coming out from the basement. "Wally," he said to them. "You're home, also, hello Linda."

"Hi, Mr. West," Linda responded back. "Just came over to get my books."

"Cool. So, Wally, how was your **test** today? Did you check your **grades **as well?"

"Yeah… uh, I got a D+ on my test. And it turns out; I'm **failing **my English class…"

Wally and Linda could see the redness boiling in Rudy's face. He could slowly see Rudy's hand form into a fist. It seemed like any moment, Rudy was about to strike, but Linda stepped in. "I can vouch for him, Mr. West," she interfered. "We've been studying together for the past few months now, as usual. Sure, Wally can be a clueless **idiot **sometimes-"

"Thanks, Linda-"

"- But he's been **studying. **Trust me; I'll make sure he gets his grades up, Mr. West."

Rudy calmed down. He backed away from the two. "You better promise that," said Rudy. "We'll discuss more of this later, Wally." He trudged off into the kitchen. Wally looked back at Linda. "Wow," he muttered. "Thanks for defending me there, Linda."

"I couldn't **bare** see you almost get harassed by your dad. But he is right; you've gotta bring your grades up for it. Thank god I offered to be your tutor."

"I couldn't thank you enough, Linda," he blessed. "See ya tomorrow."

"Bye, Wally," she replied back, and she left the house. Wally smiled, watching as Linda walked home by herself. No matter what, she was always behind his back. If only Wally could get the courage to ask her out. "We need to talk," said Rudy.

And if only Wally could get the courage to confront his father. "If this is about my grades, I'm sorry," he said. "I'll focus on getting my grade back up in his class."

"Not good enough," stated Rudy.

"Then what **is good **enough for you?" he countered. "It seems like everything I do now isn't **good **enough for you. I have super speed! I've managed to fight off Aliens, Secret Societies and Gods before! Is **that **not good enough for you?!"

"It isn't when you begin **slacking** off in school!"

"Guys, please," Mary interrupted, "Not now."

"And that's what I'm **going **to be doing, Dad," declared Wally. "I'm going to get those grades up and do a better job in school. I **promise."**

"Then here's your punishment until you **do **get that grade up," threatened Rudy. "**No** Kid Flash. Not until you get your grade to an A. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'm sorry, Wally."

"**Apology **accepted."

The feud ended. Mary returned back into the kitchen to finish up dinner. Rudy followed in the kitchen as well. But Wally just stood there, enraged by his father. Some days he felt that with the powers he possessed, he could finally stand up to his Dad for all the misery he's given him throughout the years. But he always held back from doing it. For that's not what a man with powers like him would do. That's not something _Barry _would do…

* * *

><p><strong>Keystone City; Nursing Home:<strong>

It was dinner time in the Nursing Home. Jay and Joan found themselves entering in the cozy dining room of the building. There we're plenty of chairs and tables, with many senior citizens already there eating. Jay and Joan approached the lunch line, where they were both given bowls Chicken Noodle Soup, along with a piece of bread and butter, and for dessert, a small Apple Cinnamon cake.

After getting their food, they searched for a table to sit at, and hopefully make some new friends as well. They sat at a table which although wasn't connected to any other tables, there wasn't much of a marginal gap between their table and the one next to them. Sitting at the table next to them were two older gentlemen; one of them still had strands of white hair left, and wore large glasses, while the man sitting opposite of him had lesions all over his face.

"Hey there, new people!" the man with the large glasses greeted them with. "I saw you two coming in to the Nursing Home with your stuff today. I'm Gardner, and this guy right here is Harry."

"It's so good to meet you two, thank you for welcoming us here!" said Joan. "I'm Joan, and this gentleman here is my husband, Jay."

"Nice to meet you, Jay," Gardner said sticking his hand out to him. "Hope you guys enjoy the food. It's pretty good here. My favorite is their deli sandwiches. In fact, some of the food they have, they get at my **grocery store**."

"You owned a grocery store?" Joan asked.

"Well, not anymore," Gardner explained. "My kids own it now; Fox's Shop Center."

"Really, now? That's where Jay and I usually went to get our food from."

"Well I'm glad to be talking to two loyal customers, then. So, how have you two been enjoying this place so far?"

"I think this place is wonderful," said Joan, "But my husband here is still getting use to it."

"Ah, he'll get use to it. I remember when I first came here, I **hated **this place. But I warmed up to it, and now, I can't imagine myself anywhere else but here."

"You're fella Henry doesn't talk much," commented Jay.

"He can't really talk anymore unfortunately," stated Gardner. "He's lost his voice, all the cigarettes he's smoked. Had to remove his voice box. But he hears perfectly fine, right Harry?" Harry nodded. "See? He can at least still agree with me." Harry pointed to the TV screen, displaying the screen of the local news of the press conference made by Gorilla Grodd announcing Gorilla City.

The newscaster goes on explaining in full detail about the conference and this _bizarre _announcement. All of the senior citizens watched the screen, including Joan and Jay. Jay placed his spoon down and got up from his chair. "I'll be back, honey," he said to Joan.

Jay walked over to a mounted phone outside of the Dining Room, and immediately dialed up Barry's Allen's number. The phone rung until eventually someone picked up. "Hello?" asked Barry.

"Barry, it's me, Jay," he said to him.

"Hey, Jay," Barry said back. "How's the move into the Nursing Home?"

"Awful," Jay complained. "The wallpaper doesn't match with the rest of the colors of the place, it smells like applesauce and medicine, and some of the people here **creep **me out."

"Sounds like you're having a **great **time over there," quipped Barry.

"Yeah, yeah, keep joking. **You **would be saying the same thing if you were here right now. Did you see the news? About **Gorilla City**?"

"Of course," Barry answered. "My **wife **was there at the surprise conference."

"So, Grodd's back, now in a suit and opened a secret city outside of Central City. Think he's plotting something?"

"No doubt about that. You think all of us should meet together? Like, **now?**"

"Anything to get me out of this place," insisted Jay.

"Alright, I'll get Wally and Bart over here too," stated Barry. "Be here in five, maybe ten minutes you'd say?"

"Pfft. I can arrive there in **less **time than that." Jay hung up. He returned into the Dining Room, and he gave Joan a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that all about?" Joan asked.

"Needed to talk to a friend. He asked me for his help. I'm gonna be going soon, Joan." Joan simply nodded, knowing where her husband was going. "Be back soon," she said. "And finish your dinner."

Jay looked down at his tray of food. He sat back down and quickly gobbled up his entire array of food up, at a steady pace (for Jay, at least). Gardner and Harry watched as he devoured everything off of his plates. Jay finished up, and he quickly walked off. Gardner and Harry looked over to Jay, then back at Joan. "Your husband sure can eat fast," he pointed out.

"My husband use to be in all the hot dog eating challenges," she assured. "And he's won **all **of the challenges he's entered. It's stuck with him. Or… is it his high metabolism…"

Central City:

Bart Allen and Keighley reached to their destination; a trashy and dirty looking small condo home, with most of the paint chipped off and the screen door partially ruined.

"Well…" paused Keighley, "This is my home. Or as I like to call it, **The Rut.**"

"Doesn't look too bad to me," commented Bart. "I use to live in something like this for a while."

"You did? Where did you use to live?"

"Uh… Brooklyn; then I moved with my... aunt and uncle," mislead Bart.

"So, what about your parents?" she asked.

Bart searched for an answer, not coming up with anything that would make the most logical sense. "It's **complicated.** I don't really like to talk about it."

"You're a rascal, just like I am; getting into trouble all the time, skipping school and such. Maybe that's why they sent you over here."

"Yeah… pretty much. What about your parents?"

"They're as messed up as I am. I've got a mother who ends up drinking to forget about her problems, and a father whose genius mind ended up in him going to jail."

"Gee, sorry about your dad."

"It's fine. Hey, we go to the same school, right?"

"You mean Central City High School?"

"**That's **the one. Well, I figured I might as well go tomorrow, so if you go, we should meet up. I think we have a few classes together now that I think about it."

"We do?"

"I think so. If we do, then I'll see you tomorrow definitely. If not, we should do this again."

"Yeah, it was kinda crash vandalizing stuff."

"That's why I do these sorta things; because it's so **crash**. Well, Bart, stay safe getting back home. See you tomorrow."

"See ya, Keighley."

Keighley entered into her home. Bart looked at his phone to see a text sent by Barry, as a part of a group chat with all of the other Flashes. The text read; Emergency meeting. My house, pronto. Bart then bolted his way back towards Barry's.

* * *

><p><strong>Central City; The Allen's Home:<strong>

Bart's sped right into Barry's home, appearing on one of the chairs inside their living room. He also had an apple in his hand that he started chomping down on. Barry and Iris were sitting on the sofa together.

"Am I the first to arrive?" Bart asked.

"Yeah?" said Barry.

"Sweet! I win!"

Soon enough, Jay entered into the living room. "I'm here. Thank **god **I got out of that Nursing Home while I could. So, I guess I'm second then, right?"

"Yep, which means **I **win."

"You forget, Bart, **first** are the **worst **and **second **are the **best**."

"Huh? That's not fair!" Bart protested.

"Kid, you need to learn some modern day meanings and sayings. **Then **maybe you can complain to me." Wally, the last of the speedsters arrived, standing behind the sofa, slightly out of breathe. "Am… am I the last one?"

"Which means you're **also **the one who forgot to get dressed," Jay joked.

"Oh, I hate this! I'm **always **last!" Wally took a seat on the armrest of the sofa, while Jay sat in the recliner chair.

"So, if you haven't heard this," started Barry, "but **Gorilla Grodd **is back."

"Gorilla Grodd?" said Bart. "So wait, is he like, an **actual** gorilla or something?"

"Yeah, and he talks too," explained Wally. "Not to mention he **stinks. **Seriously, do those guys know what a **bath** is?"

"No kidding," agreed Barry. "Now, Grodd's revealed a new **Gorilla City **outside of Central City. This smells trouble."

"Apparently it wasn't a good smell," joked Jay. "Hm... What do you propose we do, Barry?"

"I propose something," spoke Wally. "What if we infiltrated **inside** of Gorilla City? Find out what they may or may not be planning?"

"Last time I did that back in their city in Africa, they immediately caught me," said Barry. "And I'm certain they have those same security measures in this new city they've built."

"But we won't know if we don't try it," said Wally.

"My answer is no, Wally. I can't risk it, not this time."

"So… anyone else got any ideas?" asked Jay. "Bart? Barry? Wally? **Iris?**"

"I… might," she answered. "They're setting up public tours for anyone to go inside of Gorilla City; as a **first look** inside."

"When are they setting those up?" asked Barry.

"The first one is tomorrow," answered Iris. "We could try to go to one of those."

"Hm... Well, Wally, Looks like you're plan **might** work after all."

"Are we all going in together, then?" questioned Wally.

"No. Iris and I will. **You **and Bart have school, and Jay's got that Nursing Home stuff to deal with."

"Aw come on!"

"Sorry, but I can't make you miss any school time, for both of you."

"Urgh. Fine," he said upsettingly. "So, we've got that covered, congratulations, Aunt Iris."

"On what?" asked Jay.

"Iris and I are going to have a child," revealed Barry.

Bart's eyes widened. "You **are?!**" he screamed. "That's awesome!" Bart walked over to Iris, staring at her stomach. He smirked. "Hehe."

"What?" she asked him.

"Oh, nothing," he replied back. "You'll find out eventually." Barry and Iris looked at each other, concerned. "Trust me; it's not as bad as you think it is. You'll be surprised when you see it."

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued in The Flash Issue 4!<strong>


	4. Welcome to Gorilla City! Part 3

**The Flash Issue 4**

**"Welcome to Gorilla City!" Part 3**

**Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

><p><strong>Miles away from Gorilla City:<strong>

Hundreds of cars have made a traffic jam within the highway. Almost all of these cars are heading to one place; Gorilla City. One of these cars stuck in the traffic was Barry Allen's and Iris West-Allen's car. Barry honks his horn to the car in front of him, who is stuck in traffic, not moving at all, when Barry can see that other people are moving ahead of them. "Come on!" he yelled. "All the cars in front of you are moving! Why aren't you moving?!"

"Barry, calm down," said Iris. "Seriously, you do this every time we're in a car."

"Sorry, honey. It's just I have a low tolerance for bad drivers. And slow drivers. That's the price I pay for being one of the fastest men on the planet."

"I wonder what the people in Gorilla City have in store for the tour."

"Same. They'll probably have a tour about all of the banana monuments they have in their city."

Iris chuckled. She looked back at her husband, his face changed from an irritated driver to a contemplating face. She hadn't seen a face like that on him in a long while. Usually when her husband had to solve a problem it took him no time at all to figure it out. But to her, that face meant he was thinking deeply into something. "Something on your mind, Honey?" asked Iris.

Barry looked over towards his wife. "Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Iris," said Barry. "It's just… I've been thinking about the baby. Like how we're going to balance taking time with the baby, between your job, and my superhero stuff. Or things like school, and college, girlfriends or boyfriends, and-"

"You're thinking way ahead, Barry. We've only discovered about it yesterday morning. We'll figure all that stuff out when the time comes for us to think about it."

"I'm not just thinking about all of that. I'm also just thinking about what this means for our future. We're going to be parents now. Can you believe that?"

"I can. I'm the one who's conceiving the baby."

Barry laughed. "Yeah that's true. I guess I'm just really excited for this baby."

"I am too, Barry. Well, looks like we're here. You brought the camera, right?"

"Mhm. I made sure we've got plenty of battery life too."

"Good. We're gonna need it."

Barry pulled up onto the gravel road. The two of them exited their car and looked around to see other cars also parked on a straight road surrounded by trees. The two followed sighs placed off of the road to direct visitors into Gorilla City.

They, along with many others who were interested in this tour being set up, arrived at the front gates of Gorilla City. There was already a large crowd that developed outside of the gates, waiting till they open the doors for everyone to enter. "I can't believe how many people are here to see this city," said Iris.

"I can't believe it either," agreed Barry. "But they don't know the real Grodd like I do. Something's up, and I want to know what."

As more and more people arrived, it was finally time to begin. A few Gorillas wearing ties and holding microphones walked up to the large crowd of people.

"Good morning fellow primates!" said one of the Gorillas into the microphone. "We welcome you all to visit Gorilla City! My name is Koba, and I will be one of many of your tour guides here! We will direct you along this path across this wondrous city! Open the gates, Louie!"

The Gorilla that Koba called Louie pulled a lever on the other side of the wall, which opened the gates up to the public. The people swarmed into the city, like an anxious child patiently waiting to enter into Disneyland. Once Iris and Barry finally got into the city, they were latched together with a group of people to tour Gorilla City around with a Gorilla tour guide.

"Keep up everyone!" said their tour guide. "I'll be your tour guide for today, and try not to separate from the rest of the group and wander off, please! We're very strict about keeping things in check."

"I wonder why," whispered Barry to Iris.

The tour-guide directs the group of people over to a large shallow water fountain, with a big statue of Gorilla Grodd right in the middle of the fountain, as water squirts out from the platform that the Grodd statue was standing on. "This here is the Grodd Monument," said the tour-guide.

"Because of his glorious leadership overthrowing our kidnappers, and getting the idea to create this city for all of us, we honor him by putting this monument of our founder at the front of our entrance, to remind those who enter into the city that this man freed us all from captivity." At this time, the tour-guide allowed the people to take any pictures they want, which Iris did.

They're then brought over to a large park area near the center of the city. Tall trees with large branches cover the landscape, and they can see dozens of Gorilla's jumping from branch to branch. "Here is our park," stated the tour-guide.

"We have the grounds where you can take a walk, have a picnic, or play a game. Or, you can travel above by climbing from tree to tree. This is how most of us travel in the morning." There was a moment for the crowd to take in this marvelous park, as well as to take pictures. Iris pulled the camera back out and took more pictures.

They then moved on, as the tour-guide now brought them inside a three story building. "This is where our science labs are," claimed the tour-guide. "When we were experimented on, our brains developed advanced intelligence, smarter than any human's brain. So this building was built to create new technology and produce cures for thousands of diseases around the world. Unfortunately, we can't go around the building due to our tight schedule, so let's move on, shall we?"

As they began to move on, Barry looked around to see if there were any cameras around. There were two of them in the front lobby. "Would you mind giving me the camera, Iris?" he asked.

"Sure," she concurred, giving him the camera. "Why?"

"Go on ahead with the group, I'll be back in a flash-" not even finishing that sentence, he zoomed off, leaving nothing but a trail of air. Iris rushed back with the group, as they continued on to their next destination. As they were, Iris listened into one of two other people's conversations, talking about Gorilla City. "Man, is this city cool or what?" proclaimed one of the guys.

"At first, I wasn't sure what to think about," said the other guy. "I mean, a city inhabited by gorillas? That's just ridiculous. But now that I'm in this place, I'm totally down with this."

"I know right? We should see if they let humans move in here? I so totally want to be best buds with a gorilla."

"Totally, man!"

The next location they were brought to the Capitol Building placed right in the middle of the whole city. It is a tall tower with a strangely shaped top, almost spherical like, and was colored in gold. "The Capitol Tower here is where our leader Grodd resides, as well as where people in power govern us. We have full faith in that they will expand our city into being a fully fledged city within the United States. And now, we have someone very special we'd like to show you."

As soon as the tour guide announced that, a gush of wind brushed up on Iris, she turned around to see Barry again, still holding the camera. "I'm back," he proclaimed. "And I've got some pictures of around Gorilla City."

"What did you find?" asked Iris.

Barry was about to speak, but he was cut off when entering into the lobby was Gorilla Grodd, wearing a light gray suit and tie. Everyone ogled at the founder of Gorilla City like if he was an undiscovered celebrity. "This is Gorilla Grodd," said the tour-guide. "The founder and current Mayor of Gorilla City!"

"Welcome everyone," greeted Grodd. "I hope you've all enjoyed your visit here in Gorilla City. I am proud of what I have given my kind, and I plan that this city will lead us to great places in the future. If you'd like to take some pictures with me, you may." As people began to line up to take their pictures with Grodd, Iris leaned over to Barry. "So, what were you saying?"

"Basic stuff. All the science labs had just Gorilla's either building tech or working with chemicals, probably studying for finding cures. Nothing else besides that. Cameras are all around this place. For what reason I'm not sure, but it's probably just tied with the law enforcement here."

Grodd then walked up towards Iris and Barry. "I remember you," said Grodd. "You work for Channel 8, correct?"

"Uh... yes, I do," stuttered Iris. "I wanted to come here and see inside the city a little bit more on my own time with my husband and I."

"I hope you two are enjoying your visit here then. Also, congratulations to the two of you."

"Thanks."

"I think with you two, instead of taking a regular picture; all three of us should take a... what you call them... selfies. Does that sound ok?"

"Of course," Iris and Barry huddled around Grodd's large arms. Grodd grabs the camera out of Barry's hands and with his big palms carefully handles the camera out, so they can all be in the frame of the picture. While both Iris and Barry tried to hide their awkwardness with their fake smiles, Grodd took pride by displaying his large gorilla grin. "Say cheese!" the camera flashed. Grodd handed the camera to Iris, who then looked to see how the picture came out. Barry and Iris looked back at each other; almost in agreement that what they were just a part of was one of the weirdest moments they were a part of. "Thank you very much," said Iris.

"My pleasure," Grodd responded.

* * *

><p><strong>The Allen's House; Night:<strong>

Barry and Iris were now at their house, with Wally and Jay also present with them. Barry pulled into the living room, a large blackboard, and a half gone roll of tape. "Why do you have a blackboard, Uncle Barry?" asked Wally.

"This used to be my blackboard at work," explained Barry. "But after a while, they were ready to give some things away in preparation for some renovations. Since I used this blackboard a lot, they just gave it to me. I had to pay though, but it was worth it."

"So what is the point of this blackboard exactly?" asked Jay.

"I'm glad you asked," said Barry. Iris handed Barry the photos they took while in Gorilla City, and he started attaching them to the board with tape. "While on our little trip in Gorilla City, I took my chances to take some pictures all around the city."

"What did you find?"

"Nothing that looks too suspicious," answered Barry. "We could look deeper into some of these things, however, as we have no clue what they could really be for."

"Though, there's something that I noticed about the people around Gorilla City," stated Iris. "There was an abundance of people there in the city, completely packed. And they all seemed a little bit too impressed with what they were being shown."

"Hm… they all were a bit too enthusiastic about the city in general. But then again, they don't know the real Grodd like we do. So their excitement may be justifiable."

Wally walked up to the blackboard and tore off one of the pictures off. It was the 'selfie' taken with Grodd, Iris and Barry. "I'm keeping this if that's alright with you," said Wally.

"So what should we do?" asked Jay. "Sneak into Gorilla City again; find out some more stuff that Grodd might be planning? Anything at all?"

"We're going to do nothing right now."

"Wait what?" Jay burst. "You can't seriously think the best plan is to just wait around till Grodd does something?"

"Sorry Jay, but right now Grodd doesn't pose a serious threat right now. We'll keep an eye on him, don't worry about that, but we can't jump the gun on this one."

"That's ridiculous, Barry. If we wait too long, we may be too late for whatever Grodd has in mind-"

Bart then entered into the house, closing the door behind him, and interrupting the argument. He was absolutely dirty, and smelled of spray paint. "Bart, where have you been?" asked Iris.

"I, uh, was hanging out with friends," Bart quickly answered.

"But why are you so dirty?" Wally asked.

"A bit of rough housing, that's all." Bart began to walk past Barry into the kitchen when Barry grabbed his backpack and dug through it. He pulled out three empty spray cans. Bart looked back in be stared down by an angry Barry and Iris. "Bart… go up to your room," said Barry.

"But I-"

"NOW!" both Barry and Iris ordered Bart to do. Bart slouched off upstairs. Barry looked back over to Wally and Jay.

"We'll leave you two to deal with Bart," said Jay. "I should be heading back."

"Yeah same," said Wally. "We'll see you two whenever." Jay and Wally walked out of their home. "I agree with you, Jay, I hope you know that," stated Wally.

"I know, Wally. You and I tend to agree on a lot of things." They started walking back to the direction that Keystone City was.

"You seemed stressed out," commented Wally.

"So do you," Jay replied back.

"I'm always stressed. I-"

"If this is about you doing badly in school, we all know it's because you don't pay attention at all."

"Hey! I do pay attention in my classes!"

"Yeah, you're right. You do. But I know you're not stressed about school. It's your dad, isn't it?"

"How… How do you know about what my dad does?"

"I'm old, Wally, but I'm not stupid. I know a child abuser from a petty crook in the back of my hand. What did he do recently?"

"He almost hit me. Right in front a friend too. But she stopped him from doing it."

"She? Who's this friend of yours?"

"Linda Parks. She's just a freaking incredible friend. And she's saved my butt more times than I can recall. I own her a lot."

"Does Iris know? About your father?"

"No. But she'll figure it out. And when she and Barry do- oh boy, it's going to be hell."

"I hope so. You're fathers an asshole, Wally, I hope you realize that."

"I do. I've known that for a long time."

"Good."

"And what about you? What's on your mind? Because you look really aggravated about something. Did your short argument with Barry make you mad?"

"No, I couldn't really care about what he thinks is right or wrong to do about Grodd- though I still think I'm right. Nah, it's more personal than that..."

"... Care to say?"

Jay sighs. "It's Joan. I don't know if you guys know about this, but... she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a short while back."

"Oh... that's terrible. Sorry about Joan. How's she holding up so far?"

"She sometimes forgets some of the new people she's met, conversations, and some objects, but she's confident we'll pull through together. Just like my old Joan would say. I'm just waiting till the day she eventually forgets my name. She tells me it's going to be alright, but I know that it's just going to get worse for me, and especially for her. And she won't realize it either."

"Gee… I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to see someone you love go like that."

"I feel like I should've noticed. Problem is that I think too fast while everyone else around me thinks too slow."

"Same here."

"Hey, kid. Instead of going back home to your parents, how about we go into Gorilla City and see for ourselves what they're doing. Do our own little investigation."

"Barry will kill us if we do that, Jay, I hope you know that."

"I know. I just need to burn off some steam. Besides, you have time before you have to go back home to bed. And it's a Saturday. What are you really going to do on a Saturday? Sleep in?"

"Hm… I guess. Alright, you win. Let's get to Gorilla City." The two then sped off in the direction of the city.

Back inside the house, Bart was in his room, sitting on his bed, waiting for Barry or Iris to come in and scold him for what he's done. As he waited, Bart was twiddling with his thumbs really fast. He was getting nervous. Punishment for him was brewing. The sad part was Bart didn't really think what he did was a bad thing to do until he did it for the first time and almost got caught.

But he did it again. Because of Keighley. Right now, all he was feeling was how much in the mode he was in. The door opened, and Barry came into the room, sitting right next to him on the bed. He passed to Bart one of the spray cans he possessed in his backpack. "Your school called us," started Barry. "They told us that you haven't been in school in a few days. So is this what you've been doing instead?"

"I… yes," admitted Bart. "I wanted to learn more about the culture in Central City. So I skipped school, I pretty much already know everything they needed to teach me, and while I was roaming through the more shady part of town, I met these three kids and they were using this graffiti stuff, and I was impressed with what they were doing, so they let me try it out, and I was blown away by it, you know? So we went around spray painting things up."

"Do you know that going around spraying graffiti on public property is illegal, right?"

"I know now. I kinda figured when I did it for the first time at the rail yard. And it was kinda thrilling. I was making art."

"You were vandalizing property, Bart. And why did you continue on with that when you knew it was a bad thing to do?"

"I wanted to stay friends with the three kids that I met. They introduced me to the graffiti."

"Who are these friends you made?"

"Carmine, Josh and Keighley. They're pretty cool, despite them being... well, doing bad stuff like vandalizing property."

"I don't know, Bart. These new friends seem like a bad influence on you."

"Oh, don't do that. Sure you'd probably look at them and think of how I managed to become friends with them, but they're cool. They remind me of how kids in my time usually are."

"Well, I... I'm not going to say you should stop being friends with these kids, but unless you want to keep the friends you have, you can't go around and vandalizing things. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal. Although, I do think I have a knack for art. I should sign up for an art class."

"Sure. We'll get you into an art class at school."

"Crash!"

"Dinner will be ready soon, Bart. I'll call you down when it's ready." Barry got off of the bed and out of Bart's room. But before he could close the door behind him, Bart looked at Barry. "Hey, Barry," said Bart.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for understanding."

"No problem." Barry smiled, and he closed the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Gorilla City:<strong>

Jay and Wally have now changed into their costumes, as they overlook the whole city off of a cliff not far from the city itself. Wally pulled down his goggles, which has a red filter, and displays hostiles in infrared. "Ready?" Wally said to Jay.

"I'm ready," said Jay.

"I'll lead, and you'll follow." Wally sped off, and Jay followed behind. They traveled down the steep cliff, and then approached the gates of the city. Over the gates they went, and they sped through block after block, getting closer to the Capitol building. They passed by any guard or citizen within Gorilla City. The best they could've seen was a brush of air zooms by. There was no one patrolling around a back door behind the Capitol Building, so they entered into the building through that entrance.

As they traveled through the building, dodging detection from anyone who tried to get near them, they found a map of the whole building. Nothing about it was really special or revealing, except for the top level, which was labelled Top Secret. "Lets see what's on that top floor," said Wally. They zoomed through until they found a set of stairs that they traveled up. A door blocked their way going into the Top Secret area, but that didn't stop either of them from phasing through the door. "Let's split up," suggested Jay. "You go left, I'll go right."

"Got it," replied Wally, and he zoomed off. He passed by room number to the room number, looking through all the windows of the doors to see anything suspicious. He then phased through a large door, and in the room was a large dome shaped room, with blue panels up to the ceiling, and about a dozen gorillas in the room wearing lab coats, and operating panels and machines.

Wally quickly hid behind a couple of crates, when coming into the room was Gorilla Grodd himself. A Gorilla scientist walked up to Grodd, with what looked like important news. "Lord Grodd, we have made great progress with this machine," said the scientist. "We're now able to control the minds of thousands of human beings for longer periods of time."

"How long till we're able to control hundreds of thousands of humans?" asked Grodd.

"Soon," he replied. "We can get this one hundred percent ready for Sunday."

"Perfect timing. I'll be at a meeting with government officials on Sunday, so that will be the day we will activate the machine…" Grodd sniffed. He could tell there was somebody in the room who should've been. He turned his head over to the crates. "He's over there!" announced Grodd. "Get him!"

"Oh, great," Wally said, as he ran out of the room, dodging bullets. He ran down the hallway, but an electrical shock gate caught Wally and electrocuted him, until he was knocked out. A couple of Gorilla guards approached the unconscious Wally. "He's one of the Flashes," stated one of the guards. Suddenly, one of their coms went off. "Sir! There may be another intruder inside of the building!" said the guard through the ear piece.

"Search the whole building!" ordered Grodd. "As for this kid, give him an inhibitor collar and put him in the prison. I will have a little talk with him later..."

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued in The Flash Issue 5!<strong>


	5. Welcome to Gorilla City! Part 4

**The Flash Issue 5**

**"Welcome to Gorilla City!" Part 4**

**Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

><p><strong>Gorilla City; Prison Chambers:<strong>

Two Gorillas', wearing police gear, carrying machine guns over their shoulders and holding stun rods in their hands drag Kid Flash over to his cell. They open a steel door up and flung him inside. He hit the floor hard, and the Gorillas closed the prison doors. Kid Flash turned over on his back and inspected his surroundings. The cell was messy, and smelled of Gorilla feces. There was a glass wall right next to the steel door, allowing him to see out of the cell. He then looked over and found that Jay was also in the prison alongside him. "They caught you too?" asked Wally.

"Yep," answered Jay deadpan.

Wally checked his neck and felt some sort of device encased around his neck. "**Inhibitor collars**," said Wally. "Great. Now we can't even use our powers to get out."

"Yep. So we're stuck here."

"And we have no way to get out. Awesome. **Real **awesome... like, you have no idea how fantastic this really is. My parents are going to **kill **me."

"They can't kill you if you're stuck in here, kid."

"Yeah, true. Maybe this won't be so bad, after all."

"You say that, but yet you'll **see **what we've got planned for you two."

The two of them then saw Gorilla Grodd walking up to their cell and standing before them, behind the glass wall. He fixed his tie first before he spoke. "It was only a matter of time before one of you **speedsters **made an attempt to stop what I've been doing," berated Grodd. "I've got **two **of you in my possession. Where's the other one?"

"Actually, we have another speedster with us now, so it's really **two**."

"Another Flash? Yeesh. If he or she's as easy to take out as you two were, then I won't have any problems with him or her."

"It's a him," corrected Wally.

"Thank you," replied Grodd. "What were you two's intentions by infiltrating Gorilla City?"

"Uh, well, how about the fact that we're not **stupid, **and that unlike everyone else, we **know **you're up to no good," accused Wally. "We now know what you intend on using that big orb thing for."

"I know. I smelled you in the room. No matter, you can't do anything now, not with those inhibitor collars on. You're trapped in there until my scientists decide to find some use of you two. Which maybe **sooner** than you think. Now, I must depart. I need my beauty sleep. I have a **big **day tomorrow." Grodd smiled, and then went off.

Wally looked back at Jay concerned. "Did… did he imply they were going to experiment on us?" asked Wally worryingly.

"Yep," Jay responded.

"... Yeah, we've gotta find a way to get out of here."

"Yep."

* * *

><p><strong>The Next Day; The Allen's House:<strong>

All three of the Allen's were relaxing in their living room, streaming a movie on Netflix. Barry and Iris were sitting on the couch, with Iris' head resting on Barry's shoulder, and his arm around her body, while Bart sat in a chair, with his legs over the armrest and his head lying on the opposite armrest. Barry and Iris seemed to have been enjoying what they were watching, but Bart on the other hand seemed confused and lost at to what's going on.

"I don't understand," complained Bart. "So if she's dating that guy, and he's cheating on her with that guy, but that guy's actually sleeping with that girls best friend, who happens to be related to the first guy's sister, but she's also seeing three other people, all the while, someone of them may or may not be brothers or sisters… man, I don't remember relationships ever being **this **complicated."

"They usually aren't," said Iris. "This is a movie afterall. It's over exaggerated for the sake of comedy"

"Yeah, a really **messed **up comedy if you ask me." He then stared over to Iris' stomach, and grinned. "Hehe. I can't stop laughing."

"About what?" asked Barry.

"About the fact that Grandma Iris is pregnant with my parent."

The two were silent for a second. Then Barry chuckled as well. "Yeah that is kinda funny now that I think about it. So I'm going to assume you won't be telling us anything about the baby- or your dad and/or mom?"

"Correct," said Bart. "I ain't telling you two anything. I wanna keep things a mystery. But I'll tell you guys **this **much; you're in for a big surprise coming soon."

"That's a good thing, right?" asked a concerned Iris.

"Oh yes."

Their conversation was then cut short by the ringing of the phone. Iris moved her head up so that Barry could get up and pick the call up. He grabbed the phone and brought it over to his head. "Hello?" asked Barry.

"Barry, do you where Wally might of gone?" It was Mary West calling him, in a very concerned tone.

"I would assume he'd gone back home," told Barry. "Same goes for Jay. Why, is he not there?"

"He hasn't returned any of our calls at all. We asked him to return home by dinnertime, but he never came back. We've been up at night waiting for him to return home."

"Oh, crap..." muttered Barry.

Bart and Iris looked over at Barry. "What's wrong, honey?" asked Iris.

"Wally didn't return home apparently," informed Barry. "They don't know where he is, and he hasn't returned their calls."

"**What**?" bursted Iris. "You mean Wally's missing?"

Barry brought the phone back to his face. "Are you sure he didn't text you saying where he went?"

"No, I believe his phone may be dead," spoke Mary through the phone. "Please, do you know any idea where he may have gone? Rudy and I are worried **sick **for him."

"He left with Jay. Maybe he told him where he might've went," theorized Barry. "Iris, here, talk to your sis, I'll go call Jay."

Iris took the phone from Barry, whistle Barry pulled out his cellphone and began to dial the number of the Nursing Home Jay and Joan were staying at. A new voice could be heard echoing through the telephone, a deeper voice. One that came from an middle aged man. "Rudy?" said Iris. "Is that you?"

"Yeah it is," spoke Rudy. "Mary's taking a seat. Is Barry calling up Jay?"

"He's doing it right now."

"I hope to **god **that Wally's got a good explanation as to why he's out. It better be a **good **reason too."

"Stop chastising your son, Rudy," advised Iris. "Wally's a kid. Kids do stupid things all the time. **You and I **of all people should know that. We were rascals in the good old days."

"Just wait till you have to be a parent, sis. You'll be in for a real surprise."

"And I await the day when I **do **become a parent, bro."

Meanwhile, Barry is still on-hold for Joan Garrick to pick up the line. She does eventually. "Hello?" spoke Joan. "Who is this?"

"Hi, Joan, this is Barry," he said to her. "How've you been at the Nursing Home?"

"Barry...?" said a confused Joan. It took her a moment to realize whom she was talking to again. "Oh! Barry! Of course! Silly me. I'm fine; the Nursing Home's a very nice place. Very comfortable."

"That's nice. Question; do you know where Jay may be?"

"Jay hasn't come back for a while now. I'm going to assume he's out late again, as usual."

"You mean he hasn't come back since he left last night?"

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"I ask because Wally's not back home either, and he and Jay both left at the same time. You don't suppose you have any idea where Jay or Wally might be?"

"I wouldn't have a clue. He would've told me where he would've gone though."

"Great," Barry muttered out under his breath. "Well, thanks for your help anyways. Don't worry too much about Jay, we'll see where he could be. Bye, Joan." Barry hung up the call and turns over to Iris. "Joan says that Jay never returned back to the Nursing Home."

"Then that means both him **and **Wally are missing," stated Iris. "Oh, god, I hope they're alright."

"But where do you think they could be?" asked Bart.

"I don't know," answered Barry. "But I'm worried **sick **for their safety. We've gotta find them..."

* * *

><p><strong>Gorilla City; Prison Chambers:<strong>

The situation with Jay and Wally has not gotten better. Jay lies back to the wall, hopelessly waiting for Gorillas to arrive and take them to their doom, while Wally makes a ruckus by banging his fists on the thick glass preventing them from escaping. With their powers nullified, there is no way out; they're stuck, and could soon meet their fate at any moment now. "Grrra!" yelled Wally. "Let us out! Let us out now!"

"Give it a rest, kid," suggested Jay. "They'll let us out when they want to **kill **us, so you might as well wait for them to take us."

"Don't tell me you're just going to give up," said Wally. "We might as well **try **to get ourselves out of here."

"There **is **no way out, kid!" boldly stated Jay. "We're stuck here. Stop banging on the glass and sit down."

"Fine," sputtered Wally, and he took a seat beside Jay. "Least I'm trying to find a way to escape."

"By what? Causing a large brouhaha on the glass?"

"I was running out of ideas, ok? We're literally trapped in a box, and that glass wall is there just to spite us, and all the other prisoners here."

"We could try to break that glass with a rock," suggested Jay. "Or dig ourselves our own tunnel."

"And how are we gonna get a rock? Or the tools to make a tunnel?" asked Wally.

"We'll **make** one. With our **bare hands**."

"That's gonna take awhile."

"Then we might as well get started on it now."

"We speedsters have healing factors, right?"

"I think so."

"Kay. That way I know that my hands aren't going to be ruined beyond repair."

"You **kid's **these days. Won't even bother to get your hands dirty when needed."

"And I also like to **keep **my hands the way they are, thank you very much-"

There was a loud tap on the glass that rung the entire room with the after sound of that tap, made by the tip of an electric baton from one of the Prison Guards. The Guard snarled at them. "Quiet, you two!" yelled the Guard, and he continued on his routine.

"Well excuse us for bonding," whispered Wally.

"So, I'll get started on that tunnel," stated Jay. "You get busy making us a rock for us to break out of."

"Hold up," said Wally. "Let's not rule that out juuuuuuuustyet. Are we **certain** that there isn't another way out of here?"

"Look, Wally. We've tried everything that we can. There's no other way we can get out. Just accept the fact that you're nails are gonna chip a little bit, ok?"

"Urgh. **Fine. **But if this doesn't end up working, I'm never talking to you again."

"You'll be fine. You'll thank me later when this ends up-" As Jay pressed his hands against the wall, his arms completely phased through the wall. He looked back, confused, to see the wall staticing up. The part of the wall dematerializes out to reveal a giant hole in the wall, disguised with a cloaking device. Jay and Wally looked at each other puzzled.

"Wow," said Wally. "Someone was so kind enough that he dug us a whole for us before we even came here."

"Welp, let's go in it then," said Jay. Jay climbed up into the hole, and Wally followed behind. The hologram resurfaced behind them, blocking anyone from knowing they've escaped.

They trenched through the tunnels, climbing up steeped hills and sliding down slopes made through this long hand made pathway. When they saw a glimmer of light, they followed through till they reached the end of the line, dropping a couple feet into a narrow hallway containing a large ventilation system. Jay and Wally looked around to see their surroundings. Wally pointed towards the hallway to the right of them. "Looks like we only have one way to go," said Wally. "Forward."

The two continued on, traveling through the hallway. Above them, there was a dark furred Gorilla, following them, grabbing pipes to move. He stayed as quiet as possible. When the two reached the end of the hallway, where there was an even bigger ventilation system.

Tables were laid out with an assortment of tools and metal bands dumped into white boxes. There was a grey furred ape sitting at one of these tables, with a metal band around his head. Before either of the two could make a move, the ape, with blue fur that was following them jumped down behind them and pulled out an automatic rifle on the two. The grey haired ape also quickly pulled out a blaster at point blank towards them. Another ape with black fur also came in carrying two uzi shaped pistols as well. "Hands up," the Grey Ape said. Jay and Wally stuck their arms up. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" asked the Grey Ape.

"My names Wally, and this is Jay," explained Wally. "We. Are. Human."

"Why did you word it like that?" asked the Ape.

"His attempt at talking ape," said Jay. "Which doesn't work, considering we've heard you guys talk. Gorilla Grodd took us in as prisoner. And I'm going to take a wild guess that we were in **your **cell. Neither of you are a fan of the Grodd, huh?"

The Apes pulled pulled back their blasters from the two, identifying them as non-threats. "No. I'm not," the grey ape answered. "In fact, I **loathe **everything about him. My name's Solovar." Solovar then points to his two compatriots, first to the blue haired ape, then the black one. "These two are Nnamdi and Ulgo respectively. They're my nephews. We, along with many other apes like us escaped our captivity from the French and their experimentations on us. We sought a new place to live in; one that would suit our new enhancements."

"So you built Gorilla City… near Central City?" commented Wally.

"We picked this city because we wanted our new start to be in the country that Grodd felt was the strongest in diversity, and economically. And also, what I discovered early on, their attempts to get revenge on the **Flash**. Say, you two look a lot like him, too."

"Yeah, well, I'm Kid Flash," said Wally. "And this is the **first **Flash, from the Reagan era."

"I doubt he even knows who Reagan is," replied Jay.

"That's besides the point right now," interrupted Solovar. "The point is, Grodd is building a machine that will allow him to control the minds of everyone in a fifty mile radius for a start. And it just gets worse from there."

"Yeah, about that…" said Wally. "They plan on launching that thing, like, tomorrow."

"Dear god. Then we're running out of time," said Solovar. "We **must **stop Grodd before he even gets a chance to launch that machine."

"How do you suppose we do that?" asked Jay, crossing his arms.

"Here, put these on your heads." Solovar handed them two metal bands. They take the bands and place them around their heads.

"What are these suppose to do?" asked Wally.

"To keep you safe from Grodd's mind control machine," answered Solovar; then he looked down to the collars Jay and Wally were wearing. "Oh yeah. I suppose you want me to remove those collars off of you?"

"That would be helpful, yes," stated Jay.

"This'll take just a second." Solovar walked over to Jay first. He pulled out a keycard and stuck it into a slot, which unlocked the collars. He then moved on to Wally, and did the same thing to his collar as well. The two speedsters were now free from their confinements, and can now use their powers freely.

"Finally, we're free," said Wally. "But just for the record, the five of us, versus an entire **nation **of gorillas isn't going to be enough."

"Agreed," said Jay. "We're gonna need to get Barry and Bart here too. Do you have any way of contacting people outside of Gorilla City?"

"We do, but every call in or out of this city is monitored and tracked," answered Nnamdi. "There'd be no way we can contact your friends without getting detected."

"Fine by me," Jay responded. "They're not going to detect an incredibly high sound frequency." Jay then directed his head up to the ceiling. He widely opened his out. Solovar and his nephews waited to hear something coming out of Jay's voice, but there was nothing. All they could see was he mouthing words, and a slight ringing in their head. Wally, on the other hand, could hear what Jay was saying.

"What did you say?" asked a curious Ulgo.

"Just sent a little **message** to our friends," answered Jay. "Hopefully they get it..."

Afternoon; The Allen's House:

Iris and Bart continued to search for anything that may help them find Jay and Wally. Through emails and phone calls from friends of the two, they found nothing about their possible whereabouts. Zooming in from the front door was Barry, who took a patrol in Central City to search for their missing friends. "Find anything?" asked Bart.

"Can't find them," answered Barry. "I've patrolled both Keystone **and **Central City twice just to double check. We're at a loss. We're running out of ideas. But we're not giving up yet. Think; where could they be?"

As they pondered about places that the two might've went to, Barry and Bart could hear Jay's voice creped into their eardrums. "Hey, Barry," said Jay's voice. They were dazed for a moment.

"Jay?" asked Bart. Iris was clueless as to what's going on.

"Wally and I are in Gorilla City. We were captured, but we've managed to find some help from a couple friendly Gorillas. You two need to get into Gorilla City now. Grodd's is planning something this afternoon, so hurry up you slowpokes! Just follow the sound waves of my voice," ordered Jay's voice.

Barry turned over to Iris. "They're in Gorilla City, and they need our help to stop Grodd. Oh, boy, I'm going to **kill **them for getting themselves caught in there."

"Yeah, let's worry about that later, granddad," Bart said, already dressed in his Impulse costume. "Let's just go and kick some gorilla butt."

A second passed and Barry was now in his Flash costume too. "Let's get to it," he said convincingly. Iris got up and got close to her husband. "Be safe," she said to him. "**Both **of you stay safe."

Barry kissed Iris on her forehead. "We will," he whispered to her. "I promise. Alright, you ready, Bart?"

"Ready," Bart responded back.

"Then let's stop **monkeying** around and get to Gorilla City." The two then zoomed out of the house, shutting the doors behind them. Iris sat back down and chuckled a bit.

"Oh, Barry," she said. "He **really **needs to stop making those jokes."

Saturdays were always busy days for Central City. With no school, and most jobs all not working on the weekends, people are freely out doing what they so pleased; shopping, eating at fancy restaurants, or hanging out with friends.

Central City was no utopian town that jumped out of a science fiction novel like Metropolis was, or a gothic cesspool cluttered with crime and poverty like Gotham City. Central City was it's own city; it's own beast of it's own. It was fun, and adventurous, with it's own heroes who matched that ideal of the city. That spirit of fun and adventure was no different on any other day, as both Barry and Bart, while rushing their way over to Gorilla City, would usually play around with their surroundings.

Barry, while speeding through a street with lots of traffic, climbed over the hood of a taxi car and leaped onto a building, then starting running on the walls of the building.

Bart on the other hand, continued on his path on the ground, keeping up with Barry. However, it came time for Bart to show off himself, by leaping on to a building as well, and launching himself across the street, acting like a pinball, zigzagging across buildings. They met back up with the both of them smirking at each other. "Guess I won that time at who could out-show off one another," stated Bart.

"This means I'll have to try harder next time!" Barry replied back. They then approached the highway, where they got onto Route 89, heading their way over to Gorilla City...

Gorilla City:

Jay, Wally, Solovar, Nnamdi and Ulgo waited patiently for Barry and Bart to arrive. Wally played thumb wars with Jay, who was beating him with every game, while Solovar was busy building more metal bands. Ulgo watched Jay and Wally thumb wrestle, while Nnamdi spent his time polishing the weapons.

Then, a red outline and a red and white outline zoomed into the room and stopped at their tracks, and a gush of wind brushed up against everyone in the room. Barry and Bart have finally arrived. "**Finally**," Wally complained. "Took you long enough to get here."

"You two are in **big **trouble, I hope you realize that," said Barry.

"Yeah, save the punishment for later," said Jay. "Solovar, maybe you should fill them in with what Grodd's doing..."

* * *

><p><strong>To be concluded in The Flash Issue 6!<strong>


	6. Welcome to Gorilla City! Part 5

**The Flash Issue 6**

**"Welcome to Gorilla City!" Part 5**

**Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

><p><strong>Earlier that Morning:<strong>

A few government officials, including the Mayor of Central City and his assistance, along with a Senator from Missouri State, wait outside of the gates leading into Gorilla City. They feel uneased and a bit perplexed that they've been invited for a greeting with the Cities president, Gorilla Grodd. The gates open up, and Grodd and a few other Gorillas accompanying him approach the group of politicians.

Grodd waves his arms up vigorously. "Good afternoon, fine leaders of Missouri!" belched Gorilla Grodd. "We here at Gorilla City are **glad **that you were all able to come here and visit."

"It was, uh... pleasure, Mr. Grodd," said the Mayor of Central City. "It was very nice of you to invite us to visit, really."

"Yes, indeed. Come; follow me. I'll take you a tour around the city."

Grodd led the way, as the other senators and leaders followed Grodd through the front entrance of the city, approaching the water fountain right in front of the gates, where the senators and leaders got their first glimpse of Gorilla City. While they admired the landscape, they all felt a queasy feeling in their stomachs. Like they couldn't _believe _they're standing in a city built by gorillas. Questions came into their heads. "Um, excuse me, uh... Mr. Grodd, is it?" asked a female senator. "I'm... a bit confused as to how this entire city came to be. Care to explain how this city was made?"

"Great question, Mrs.. Laurence, is it? Let's walk, shall we?" And they continued to walk, as Grodd began to tell his story. "A few years ago, France secretly began a special government project called 'The Brain Project'. The intention of this project was to examine the minds of primates, as a testing way to possibly evolve the human mind to its evolutional peak. **We **were their guinea pigs. Lo and behold, their project worked. However, our new vast intelligence outsmarted theirs and we escaped their captivity. Soon after, the secret was out. We came here, to build a new home, one that would be made as a testament. Where we will cooperate and coexist along with the other civilized humans. That is the basic gist of it, at least. I could go into more detail if you want."

"No, no, that's fine," replied Mrs. Laurence. "You can discuss more of it at lunch."

"Rightfully so."

* * *

><p>"Now that we're all here, this is the plan," Solovar said as he began to go through the rundown in their big plan of taking Gorilla Grodd out. "As we've figured out from your two friends here, Grodd's planning on launching the machine that will mind control everyone within a miles vicinity very soon. We need to act fast, and efficiently. Luckily, there are four of you speedsters and three of us."<p>

"That doesn't sound like our odds are very good," Wally said concerningly. "This place is **rigged **with traps that can take us out instantly."

"Which brings us to Step One," Solomon continued. "We need to disable the buildings power, located in the subbasement. We'll move through the ventilation shafts as to avoid getting detected. Correlation to Step One is Step Two; breaking out the prisoners. Most of them being held captive all despise Grodd, so allowing them to join with us means extra help."

"What's after that?" asked Jay.

"Step three; powering down Grodd's machine, revealing what Grodd's secretly been doing and getting Grodd arrested for crimes against humanity."

"So who goes where?" Barry asked.

"Let's see... Um, I don't know you two's names."

"I'm Barry, this is Bart," said Barry.

"Right. Barry, Bart, you'll go with Ulgo to destroy the power. Jay, Wally, you will come with Nnamdi and I to free the prisoners. We'll regroup at Grodd's machine. Everyone got it?"

They all nodded.

"Excellent. Let's go take down a dictator."

* * *

><p>Step 1: Disable the Buildings Power Systems.<p>

Flash, Impulse, and Ulgo made their way traveling through the buildings ventilation shafts down to their destinations; the machine that controls the buildings power, located in its own room. Ulgo carefully removed the ventilation grate, pushing it off with his massive foot, allowing the three to jump down and safely land in the large hallway. They run down the hallway till Ulgo stops the two Flashes from proceeding onward as their objective was being hindered by two heavily armored Gorilla's from protecting the door leading into the room with the controls. Ulgo looked back at the two. "One of you two distract them," he whispered to them. "Which one of you is willing to do it?"

"Distractions are what I'm all about," Impulse exclaimed softly. He zipped past the guards and down the hallway, where he stopped for a moment so the guards can see what caught their attention. After a moment, and Impulse waved at them, he sprinted off. One of the Guards looked back at the other.

"You go ahead and find out what that is," the Guard ordered. "I'll stay here and keep watch. Someone's here."

The other guard went off to chase Bart while the first guard stayed behind. Ulgo looked back at Flash. "Any ideas on how to take this guy out?" Ulgo asked.

Flash lifted his arm up and began to vibrate his arm, charging it with immense energy. Barry smiled. "I've got this."

Flash turned the corner they were hiding behind. Before the Guard could even react, Barry's charged punch struck the Guard in his unprotected face, which knocked the Guard out cold. Lying down unconscious, Ulgo kneeled down and grabbed a keycard on the Guards belt buckle. He swiped the card across a scanner, and the door opened. Barry and Bart proceeded inside.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Impulse continued to play around with the guard chasing after him. Impulse did so by circling around the Guard, taunting him with sayings like "Slowpoke!" and "You can't catch me!" But Bart's recklessness caused him to get stuck at a dead end. The Guard, who had his pistol pointed at Impulse, now cornered him. "Uh... is it too late to plead the fifth?" joked Impulse.<p>

"Not on my watch," the Guard perfused out. He picked up a walkie-talkie and pressed the button on the side to speak. "We've got a situation where I'm located. Another **speedster.** Should I proceed? ... Alright, I'll wait," and he took his thumb off the button and put away his walkie-talkie. "You're not very **bright **now, are you? Thinking that playing this game with me would've gotten you anywhere."

"That's what you think," replied Impulse.

* * *

><p>Back with Ulgo and Flash, they now stood before a large computer module, with screens and buttons all on the panel. Flash looked at Ulgo. "What now?"<p>

"There's this saying you humans have that I'm quite fond on," said Ulgo, and he pulled out his massive machine gun over his shoulder and points it straight at the panel. "When in doubt; blow it up."

KABOOM! The entire module exploded, creating a flurry of sparks and fire that burst out from the explosion. The lights went out for a few moments, but then the backup generators popped back in; the red lights replaced the regular white lights. A deep beeping sound played on and on in the background, inciting that something has happened. "Well, our jobs done," said Flash. "Let's get Bart and rendezvous with the others."

* * *

><p>The lack of power for those few seconds was all Bart needed to get his advantage and beat the guard down. The red lights came on, and the Guard was knocked down. Impulse chuckled. "Told you." Impulse ran off.<p>

* * *

><p>Only moments before the blackout occurred, Grodd and his guests were enjoying their time together at lunch. More and more, the leaders and senators warmed up to what the city had to offer. Right at the moment, the food they were having was very liked by them. "My word, this food is delicious!" proclaimed one of the other Senators. "You must've gotten the best cooks to make this food for us."<p>

"We here at Gorilla City embrace all kinds of job opportunities and unique career choices that everyone's able to choose on their own," explained Grodd. "From the very powerful to the very creative, we welcome the idea of allowing anyone the career they want to follow."

"You've certainly done your homework," said the Mayor. "You've followed our cultures and our structures carefully. I almost get the feel of a **utopia **from you guys."

"I aim to make a city that my fellow brothers and sisters can live in together, without the poking around from higher authority. And, If I must say, I believe I'm doing a good job at it-"

Just then, the power went out. The Senators and leaders became frightened for a bit. Grodd became furious. The red lights came on, and after a few moments a guard entered into the room and approached Grodd. He got close to his ear. "Sir, someone took out the power to the whole building," said the Guard. "We're on our way to get it back online, but it may take awhile."

"Double that time," ordered Grodd sternly. "The machine must be protected at **all **costs, plus my guests might be growing a bit suspiciously now that the powers off."

"Right away, sir." The guard went off. Grodd turned back to his guests. "I sincerely apologize for this unfortunate incident," said Grodd. "A faulty wiring must've accidentally cut the power to the whole building. How it must happen on occurrences like these. My men will be fixing this as soon as they can. In the meantime, let's continue discussing…"

* * *

><p>Step 2: Breaking out the Prisoners<p>

Dozens of floors up, in the Prison Cells, the Guards are on high alert for any intruders that might think about freeing those captive. Due to the dark and limited lighting the red lights gave off, it was hard to detect any intruders with their eyes, but they could still smell them. Unfortunately for them, that did little for them to stop both Jay Garrick and Kid Flash from zooming from enemy to enemy, quickly incapacitating them with simple strikes with their fists. When the guards were all out, Jay and Wally's attention was directed to a large rectangular panel box, which the two assumed was what's keeping everyone in their cells. Jay zipped right to the panel, quickly unscrewing the plate, and digging through the circuits and wirings, un-attaching them all from their ports. The doors all opened up, and all of the prisoners got out of their cells. Entering into the room was Nnamdi, who carried into the room a cart full of metal bands, and Solovar.

"Friends! Will you assist us in stopping Grodd's reign on trying to control the humans?!" yelled Solavar with his loud booming voice. The prisoners cheered in agreement. "Then take your metal bands and fight for what will **truly **be the freedom of the Gorillas!"

The Gorillas lined up to receive their metal bands. Once they did, they all separated and roamed out to cause havoc throughout the building. Nnamdi, Solovar, Kid Flash and Jay Garrick waited for Ulgo, Impulse and Flash to arrive, regrouping together.

"We've got steps one and two done," said Solovar. "Now to do Step 3: taking out Grodd's machine."

They all began to head to the room with Grodd's machine, with a few of the prisoners following them. Once they reached the doors leading into the room with Grodd's machine in it, a large, massive sized gorilla charged out of the door and was heading straight for the group. Though most of them managed to miss the charge, Barry, unlucky that he can be sometimes, was grabbed somehow, and the giant Gorilla threw Barry down into the ground so strong, that Barry broke the floor, and continued to break through a few floors until his fall was stopped by the table in the room with all of the Senators and Leaders, and Grodd, watching in confusion.

"Mayor Fox?" said Flash.

"Flash?" Mayor Fox replied back. "What are you doing here?"

"Excellent question; I and my other Flashes are here to stop **Grodd.**"

The shock that went into the Senators and Leaders face when they looked at Grodd grew. Grodd looked at Flash in disgust.

"Grodd's been playing us this whole time," explained Flash. "The city was just a way to help get the people to trust Grodd, and to do it, he built this mind control machine to get people intrigued. We've been **played.**"

Flash was blasted back off from the table by a gun Grodd pulled out from his suit. He began to walk over to Flash slowly. "Indeed I have," Grodd confirmed Barry's claims. "I **have **been playing you. I've been playing **all **of you. What happened to all of us in this city, what those scientists did to change us allowed us the ability to **think **better than any human can. We're now the smartest beings on Earth, and it is our time to rule over it. But you **humans, **so stupid, inconsiderate and lazy, would be fooled and easily controlled by anything you see. It was almost easy to convince people that Gorilla City was a good idea. But you; you knew who I was already. You knew that no matter what I did, I wouldn't be able to convince the fastest man alive to my dirty tricks. Well, no more, Flash."

Grodd placed his big right foot onto Flash's chest, slowly crushing it due to the weight Grodd was forcing on. He pointed his gun straight at Flash's head. "Goodbye, Flash. Know that your death will be in vain. And I will make sure it **stays **that way."

"Boy, you sure do **talk **a lot," a youthful voice interrupted. Grodd turned around to see Impulse leaning against the entrance to the room. "For a gorilla who has super-intelligence, you'd think you'd keep that mouth of yours shut. It just delays the anticipation. Me? I-"

Impulse zoomed right next to Grodd and grabbed his gun out of his hand. He then circled back around the room and returned to his position at the door, and he waved the gun around. "- Don't have time to delay."

"What?!" Grodd looked at his hand to see his gun missing. With Grodd distracted, Impulse charged up a punch and knocked Grodd off of Flash, hitting a pillar. Impulse helped Flash up off the ground.

"Thanks," said Barry. "How were you guys able to defeat that big gorilla?"

"Oh, I left them behind to deal with it," Bart admitted. "I'm sure they're fine." They turned around to find Grodd was gone. When they quickly glimpsed up at the broken ceiling, they saw a foot quickly lift up. Grodd was heading up to the top floor.

"Uh oh," Bart said. "We better get back up there." The two then zoomed right out of the room, leaving the Senators and leaders behind.

* * *

><p>Back up to the top Floor, Grodd climbed out from the broken hole in the floor. He looked over to see Jay and Kid Flash, Ulgo, Nnamdi and Solavar still fighting the big gorilla beast. The power, or at least most of it, came back too. With them busy, Grodd made his way into the room with his machine. Solavar noticed Grodd heading his way into the room. "Grodd's getting to the machine!" bursted Solavar. "I can't let that happen!"<p>

He left the battle, leaving the four to fend the giant beasts themselves. Grodd quickly closed the doors behind him, only for Solavar to slip past and he tackled Grodd down on the ground, holding him down. "**Damn **you, Solavar," spoke Grodd. "You've always been a nuisance to deal with."

"What you're doing is **wrong**, Grodd," said Solavar. "Why use our newfound gifts to harm the humans, instead of working together with them?"

Grodd manages to push Solavar off of him. He then grabbed Solavar's left arm and then used him to direct him to slam right into a wall. "They're **animals, **Solavar," answered Grodd. "Haven't you seen that? They harmed us; tortured us; beat us, and for what? To see if **they **could become a smarter being? And now **we **are the ones to gain the intellectual peak. These people don't deserve to rule this world. **We **do." Grodd then pulled out Solavar's large dagger and stabbed him right in the stomach. Solavar groaned, and he fell to the floor, pulling out the dagger, holding his stomach from bleeding out. Grodd approached his machine and begin to tamper with it, preparing for the launch.

Outside of the room, the four struggled to keep the Giant Gorilla under control. Too strong to do damage at and too fast to make any move on him. Kid Flash attempted to make a hit at him, by making himself into a pinball and flinging himself across the hall and then smacking into the Gorilla's chest, with no effect. The Giant Gorilla then raised his massive arms up to try to smash Kid Flash into the ground, but he quickly got out of the way just in time. "He's just too strong and fast!" exclaimed Kid Flash. "How are we supposed to even **hurt **this guy?"

Jay pondered for a moment. "I think I may have an idea," he said. Jay begins to vibrate his hands so fast that they create an electrical current. When Jay sped up to the Giant Gorilla, he quickly pressed his hands on the beast's chest. The electrical current went through the Giant Gorilla's body, shocking him. The Gorilla screamed. After a moment, the Gorilla fell down, unconscious. Kid Flash looked at Jay amazed. "Woah," muttered Kid Flash. "How did you-?"

"I sent a large electrical current all throughout his body, strong enough to harm him, but not lethal enough to kill him," Jay explained. "I've done it a couple times back in my youth. I should tell you some of those stories sometimes."

"Please do."

Just then, Flash and Impulse appeared, seeing the work they've done in defeating the Giant Gorilla. "Sorry, we're late," said Flash. "Is Grodd in there?"

"Solavar followed him inside," said Nnamdi. "But who knows what could've happened inside."

They all approached the large metal doors leading inside. Nnamdi and Ulgo both grabbed the slits of the sliding doors and forcefully opened it that way. They walked inside of the room to see the large machine still preparing to be initiated. Nnamdi looked right to see a wounded Solavar. He helps him back up. Grodd was wearing a massive helmet that had wires connected to the machine itself. "It's too late for you now to stop me!" said Grodd. "In a matter of moments, the machine will activate, and everyone will bend within miles will bend to my will!"

"Not unless we stop you," chimed Flash.

"Bah! Like you'll get the chance too."

Impulse quickly detached from the group but returns a few seconds later with a shit eating grin on his face. Suddenly, the machine started to haywire. Electrical surges spat out, and the power of the machine started to fluctuate. Then, the surge went through the wires connected to the helmet and reached into Grodd's mind, frying his head. Grodd screamed in agony. The machine completely turned off, and Grodd fell on the floor with his brain fried. The Flashes looked back at Impulse with a confused face. "What did you just do?" asked Flash.

"I quickly tampered with some of the wires in the system," answered Impulse. "Didn't think it would haywire like that, but it worked. Grodd's been taken out. We did it."

"Indeed you did," muttered Solavar, struggling to speak due to his injuries and loss of blood. "You have… stopped a madman from slowly… controlling everyone in the world. Grodd will pay for his crimes… as for you four… you will… be honored by the people of Gorilla City for your actions…"

"Trust us, when we heard the name Grodd, we had a hunch that something was up," said Flash.

"And I'm glad you decided to look into it… Gorilla City **will **stay. But without Grodd, and without any one of his followers. He will not… poison our kind with his evil ways… Thank you, again."

"Hey, it was no problem on our part," said Jay. "We're just a family, after all."

* * *

><p>Keystone; The West's Home- Nighttime:<p>

Both Rudy and Mary, with bags under their eyes, watch the 6'o clock newscast on the events that occurred in Gorilla City. "... Gorilla City, the city built by highly advanced gorillas outside of Central City, found out that it's leader, Gorilla Grodd, had been planning on taking over the minds of humans through a machine being built by Grodd and his associates. Luckily, the Flashes, and a few rogue Gorilla members thawed Grodd's plan, revealing these plans to such people as the Mayor of Central City, and multiple Senators from Missouri, who were there on a tour with Grodd to showcase his city to them. Management of the city has been taken over by Solavar, who promises that the corruption that Grodd had been implementing on the city and it's inhabitants will go away, and that they want to prove to the world that they can be trusted. More info as we go along."

They heard the front doors opening. They quickly looked back to find their son, Wally, safe and finally back home. "Hey, mom, dad," said Wally.

"Wally!" Mary cried out, close to tears as she and Rudy hug their son tightly. "We were so worried about you. We thought you might've been hurt."

"Yeah, I did a stupid thing. And I'm sorry," confessed Wally. "I… I made a mistake."

"You sure did, son," said Rudy. "You did a **really **stupid thing. And you're in **big **trouble for it. But that's for a later discussion. I'm just glad you're home."

"Hey, whatever punishment you give me, I'm ok with. I just wanna sleep, really…"

* * *

><p>Keystone; Nursing Home:<p>

Joan was in her and her husband's bedroom, reading a book, waiting for her husband to come home. Eventually, the door opened up, and Jay entered into the room. Joan looked up to view her husband. She smiled. "I knew you'd make it home," Joan said.

"You always had faith in me, didn't you?" said Jay.

"I may be losing my memories, but if there's one thing that I can remember about, is to know that my husband will come back home to his wife."

Jay kissed Joan on the forehead. "Yeah, you've always been like that. Glad you're ok."

"You too."

* * *

><p>Central City; Allen's House:<p>

Iris was waiting in the living room, reading an article about how to be a parent, when she looked over to find Barry and Bart entering into the home. Iris took the laptop off of her legs and approached Barry, giving him a big kiss on the lips. "Welcome back, you two," she said to them. "Are Jay and Wally safe?"

"They're safe," answered Barry. "And they made it home. Grodd's been defeated. He's being held prisoner there in Gorilla City, at least till he goes on trial for his actions."

Bart leaned over the couch to notice the article on Iris' laptop. "I can see you've been busy finding out about babyhood," spoke Bart.

"I've been reading them all day," said Iris, "And I got some very interesting tidbits about pregnancy. Wanna read, Barry?"

"Maybe later," said Barry. "I'm tired. Let's just… have dinner. Does that sound good?"

"Of ," she gave Barry another kiss. "You two deserved it."

"You guys do a lot of kissing, you know," mentioned Bart.

"Trust me, when you start dating, and you love someone as much as I do with Barry, you won't **stop **kissing."

"Gross."

* * *

><p>The situation in Gorilla City has been dealt with. But now, another new threat emerges. The Rogues are coming back! And they're better than ever! Next arc, they're getting some upgrades!<p> 


	7. Upgrades Part 1

**The Flash Issue 7**

"**Upgrades" Part 1**

**Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

><p><strong>Warehouse: <strong>

Leonard Snark drove his blue Subaru car into the abandoned parking lot in the outskirts of Central City. He parked his car up into a parking spot, overgrown with weeds and plants. The lines to measure spaces for cars have also faded. Leonard looked around, suspicious of the place. No one else was around it seemed. Two cars were parked far away from each other, but other than that, it looked like the place was completely deserted. A perfect place for a gang meet up, Leonard thought.

Leonard got out of his car and unlocked the back trunk of the car with his keys. He opens the door up and pulls out two of his freeze guns. He closed the back trunk door and made his way over to the warehouse. _"This job better pay well," _thought Leonard.

Ever since he and his fellow Rogues members helped save Central City from the Kryptonian invasion two years prior, and the disbandment of the team, Leonard was left without much left to do. Spending his time at his sister, Lisa, instead, finally deciding that the life of crime was over. But it wasn't until about a year ago that Lisa was diagnosed with an early stage of cancer. It was in the tumor stages, but it has been stable over the past few months with the help of chemotherapy. But when the option to remove the tumor came, and there was no money they could use to spend, Leonard returned to his Captain Cold identity to help pay for her sisters surgery. Even the jobs he was doing had offered him very little money. This job he took up promised him enough money to pay for her sister's surgery.

Leonard kicked down one of the doors leading into the warehouse and pointed his guns out. But no one was in the warehouse. Leonard was confused for a second, and then became angry once he came to the realization that his employer set him up. "That bastard," muttered Leonard. "He lied to me. I'm gonna **kill **him once-"

But then, Leonard heard someone's footsteps approaching out. He quickly turned around and pointed his guns at whoever was behind him, but realized something; it was his friend, Captain Boomerang, who had two boomerangs out as well. They stopped and looked at each other for a moment. "Boomy?" said Leonard.

"Lenny?" said Captain Boomerang. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," replied Leonard. "I thought you were in prison, anyways."

"I **was**. Someone posted my bail. And they gave me a letter, said to come here."

"Hm. You don't think-"

Then, in the room came Heatwave, who was also surprised of his friends being there too. "What are you two doing here?" blurted Heatwave.

"Heatwave?" said Leonard. "How did you get here?"

"Some ominous guy off the streets just approached me and asked me to go here. Yes, I'm being serious when I say that."

"You wouldn't be the first to have that happen to you," said another new voice in the form of Mirror Master, who also came into the group's conversation. "The same thing happened to me, but this was from one of my co-workers."

"Alright, so this has quickly turned into a Rogues reunion," joked Leonard. "Now where's Trickster?"

"Right over here!" yelled Trickster, who was at the far end of the warehouse. Standing next to him was a man with scruffy brown hair and was approximately the same height as Trickster. He was wearing dark green spandex, with a pale green hoodie, and a belt that carried a piccolo. Digger was almost close to laughter.

"Oh great," he half chuckled, half dreaded. "Who's the **bloke** right next to you?"

"He is **not **a bloke!" barked Trickster. "He's my friend!"

"Sure am," spoke his friend. "Name's Hartley Rathaway, but you can call me... the **Pied Piper."**

"Wait- Pied Piper?" said Mirror Master.

"The one and only," said Pied.

"You mean the same guy who hypnotized Flash a while back? With a **flute?**" uttered Heatwave. "You're **that **guy?"

"Sure am," Piper said with such pride. "Pretty impressive, huh?"

"You certainly fit the bill of the Rogues," commented Captain Boomerang. "But that still doesn't explain why the hell we're all here."

"The **answer, **Mr. Harkness," a mysterious voice said, quiet, but threatening. The person who spoke stood out from the shadows was a tall bald headed man, wearing a purple and green suit. His stature indicated a cunning and sinister man. "- Is right here."

But the Rogues all looked at the figure in confusion. "**Lex Luthor**?" asked Heatwave.

"**No, **you idiot," the Man replied. "My name is **Mazdan.**"

"Never heard of ya," said Captain Boomerang.

"I know you all don't know me. But I know all of **you. **I know all about your lives; past, present, and **future.**"

"What are you-"

"I'm saying I'm from a future, much different from yours, but very similar in many ways. By the 24th Century, the universes societies have been aligned, and stand united together when **your **tomorrow almost never happened. Diseases have been cured, new species have been created, and societies have been created, and crumbled. It's a very different world from what it is now."

"**Fascinating,**" said Mirror Master. "A time traveler."

"Ya, ya, whatever," Boomerang brushed off. "That doesn't explain who **you **are exactly."

"I'm a thief, a well known one across the cosmos back in my world. I was in the middle of making my biggest steal ever, when I was caught in a time flux. And I've been stuck in this timeline for the past three months."

"Kay. What does this have to do with any of us?" asked Heatwave.

"Because I need you all to help me get back into the future," said Mazdan.

"T'hell with that!" screamed Boomerang. "Why should we give a shit about **your **problems?"

"I can give you all **anything **your heart desires," revealed Mazdan. "Did you really thing I would bring you all together and not expect to give you something in return for your actions?"

This peaked Leonard's interest. "What... what are you willing to offer us?" he asked.

"Well, to start off, you know those **gadgets **you possess? What if you never needed to use those again? What if you actually possessed the abilities within you?"

"Y'mean... like, **super powers?"** asked Pied Piper.

"Precisely," answered Mazdan. "You won't ever have to use a freeze gun or a mirror gun ever again. I can give that to you. I can also give you any pleasures you wish for."

"**Anything**?" Leonard emphasized.

"Anything," Mazdan assured.

"Alright then, future man," said Leonard. "Before I go and sign my name up to your little **experiment, **I have only one thing I want you to give me."

"And that is?"

"My sister. She… she has cancer. She was diagnosed with it about two years ago. It's still in the tumor stages, but she doesn't have a whole lot of money to do the operation. Can you… can you remove it from her?"

"Leonard, I can make sure your sister will **never **be harmed by anything again," remarked Mazdan. "You have my **word.**"

"Then you have my vote," said Leonard. "I'll do it."

"Excellent," said Mazdan. "And what about the rest of you?"

"I do like what you are offering," pondered Mirror Master. "I've been wanting to expand my connections to the world of Mirrors, so maybe this'll be the way to do so. As for my personal demands, I want money, my criminal records cleared, and for my restraining order from me and my family gone."

"I just wanna burn stuff," said Heatwave. "You give me that, and I'll be a happy camper."

Pied and Trickster whisper into each other's ears, then they faced Mazdan. "Pied and I talked, and we both decided we want a house on the beach, in Spain," demanded Trickster. "With our own squad of maids, our own personal theater, and a racing track."

"And what about you, Digger?" said Mazdan. "Will you accept my offer?"

"Meh. Why not, I suppose," said Captain Boomerang. "I doubt you can even make a guy like me cool with the boomerangs anyhow."

"I can't thank all of you enough for helping me," said Mazdan. "When I leave, you will all live on like gods."

"Yeah, whatever, now just give us our powers!" burst Captain Boomerang.

"Be patient, Digger," replied Mazdan. "I'll get the shots ready..."

* * *

><p><strong>The Allen's House:<strong>

Returning back home from his day job at Central City Police Department was Barry Allen, exhausted and beat. Bags are under his eyes, and he is completely deprived of any excitement, like the normal Barry Allen had. He dropped all of his stuff on a chair, and then plopped down on the couch next to Iris. She leaned over to Barry and kissed him on the cheek. "How was work today?" she asked.

"**Horrible,**" Barry replied back. "Captain Frye really ripped me a new one today. Thank god Patty and Dave backed me up, because I'm pretty sure I was **this close** to being fired."

"Aw. Poor honey," softly said Iris, pulling her husband in closer to her. "What happened?"

"I was slow," Barry explained. "Too slow for Frye to handle. He got frustrated with my speed and began to chew me out. I was too tired to care, honestly."

"Slow? Odd; you're normally good with getting work done. Sometimes."

"Iris, I've been sleeping less and less for the past week or so. I just, don't know. I can't sleep at all and I don't know why."

"Have you tried drinking any energy drinks? Coffee? Anything?"

"Done them all. Nothing's worked. I just can't… focus."

"Maybe you have insomnia."

"Maybe. It's driving me crazy, Iris. I barely have any energy to do anything, Iris."

"That's bizarre. What if I knocked you out with tons of sleeping pills? You think that could work?"

"Gimme the full bottle."

Iris got up for her husband, who slid down to lie his back on the couch, while Iris searched for a bottle of sleeping pills. She returned with the bottle and a glass of water, and handed it to Barry.

"Thanks," said Barry, sitting back up as he downed the bottle of pills and washing it down with water. While doing so, he trailed off to looking at Iris. Something caught his eye about her that he had to point out. "Why are your eyes brown?" he asked.

"You must be really tired, Barry," shrugged Iris. "My eyes are **green**."

"I may be tired as hell, but I can tell you right now, your eyes are **brown**."

Iris, wanting to prove her husband wrong, went into the ground floor bathroom to check. Looking into the mirror, Iris was shocked to see that her husband was right. "Oh my god," said Iris. "My eyes **are **brown."

"I told you," muttered Barry. Iris came back out from the bathroom to confront Barry. She's now concerned and confused.

"Barry, my eyes are brown," stated Iris.

"Yeah, and it's now changing colors," commented Barry. "Your eyes are now yellow."

"Oh, god…" cried Iris. "What's happening to me?"

"I… don't know. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine, otherwise."

"Hm… maybe… we can arrange an appointment with a doctor," suggested Barry. "**Doctor Ray Palmer** that is. He can probably figure it out. Hopefully it's not anything too bad."

"Yeah…" spoke Iris. "Hopefully…"

* * *

><p><strong>Warehouse: <strong>

Each of the Rogues members sat on a bench, waiting to receive their new powers. Leonard Snark now changed into his Captain Cold outfit he kept in his car, volunteered to try the enhancements first, his arm already out ready to take the needle. Mazdan opened up a box that featured six vials with a needle at the end of it. The other Rogues peered over as they watched Mazdan take his stool over towards Cold. He firmly grasped under Cold's arm and looked up at him. "Just as a warning, this is going to hurt a lot," cautioned Mazdan.

"Just do it," said Cold. And from there, Mazdan stuck the needle into Cold's arm, pressing down on the top as the serum inside of the vile exited out from the needle and entered into Cold's bloodstream. He could already feel the affects of the serum inside of him, falling onto the ground, crying out in excruciating pain, while Mazdan, and the Rogues helplessly watched. When Cold opened his eyes, it glowed a bright blue, and then underneath him, the floor started to ice up. The pain went away and Cold stood up. He felt incredible; the icy chill radiated off of his body now with the powers to create his own ice at will. The Rogues looked at him in amazement.

"How do you feel?" asked Heatwave.

Cold smirked. "Like a **million** dollars."

Mazdan turned over to the other Rogues members with a new vile in his hands. "Whose next?"

Once all of the Rogues received their shots, and developed their newfound powers, Mazdan looked at them, smiling at his successes, as the Rogues tried out their new powers.

"It worked," spoke Mazdan. "Now it's all your turns to take the serum. But before I do, I should probably tell you what you need to do to help me get back into the future."

"Ah great, the part where you tell us to do shit," complained Captain Boomerang. "Alright, what is it?"

"Bring me the **Flash…**"

"What?!" burst Heatwave. "Who do you think we are?! Competent?!"

"With your new powers you will be," replied Mazdan. "This is the reason why I'm giving you these powers; so you can finally take down the Flash. I need him to access his speed, and harness it so I can go back in time."

"You **really **think that these power boost you're giving to us is really going to beat Flash, huh?" asked Mirror Master.

"Of course. Otherwise, why would I be giving you these?"

"Fair point, I suppose. Whatever, you ask us for Flash, and we'll deliver on that."

"Good…"

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued in The Flash Issue 8!<strong>


	8. Upgrades Part 2

**The Flash Issue 8**

"**Upgrades" Part 2**

**Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Forest of Central City:<strong>

Captain Boomerang slashed away the bushes and shrubbery of the cluttered forest that surrounded Central City with one of his boomerangs. Eventually they reached the outskirts of the City, where they could see a beautiful view up from the hill of shrub and tree branches. "Well, we're here," said Captain Boomerang. He looked back at the group, specifically Mirror Master, who was holding a remote control of sorts. "Now use that gizmo thingy to find the Flash."

Mirror Master pressed some buttons to reconfigure the search of any Speed Force energy within the city. It made a ringing sound, and on a little screen, they could see a bright flashing dot that zoomed across the radar. "There's one really active speed force user right now," stated Mirror Master. "He's **zooming **around the city. We'll have to wait till he slows down."

"Well, what do we do until then?" asked Heatwave.

"The more he stops, the sooner we lose his signal. We'll have to get closer to the city if we want to hold on to this signal."

"Then let's get to it," said Captain Cold. The Rogues then trenched out of the forest, walking down the steep hill to enter into the city...

* * *

><p><span><strong>34.8 Seconds Ago:<strong>

Bart Allen's incredible speed left a yellow trail of electrical light as he traveled through the streets of the city, and stopping right at the door of Kelly's home. He knocked on the door, and eventually, Kelly, wearing a casual t-shirt and short jeans opened the door. "Whattsup, Kelly?" said Bart.

"Hey, Bart," replied Kelly. "You bring the snacks?"

"Kit-Kat Family Sized, Big Doritos Ranch bag, and two soda pops. Ready to go up to the hill?"

Kelly stepped out of her home, closing the door behind her and stepped out of the front porch steps. "Lead the way, speedy gonzales."

Kelly wrapped her arms around Bart's neck, hanging onto him. "Hang tight!" The outline of Bart and Kelly soon disappeared, lingering behind as Bart traveled the two of them off on top of the mountain with a flash.

Up on that mountaintop, Kelly and Bart sat before an edge of the mountain, as Bart pulled out all the treats from the bag sat in between them. The bag of Doritos opened up and the soda caps had to be popped open with the assistance of Bart's thumb, speeding up the molecules of his thumb in order to remove the caps. They both took a big swig of their soda. Bart couldn't help but take a massive burp, which Kelly responded in both laughter and in displeasure. "Gross!" cried Kelly. "You burped for a straight **twelve seconds**!"

"We speedsters have a knack of belching out for a long time," stated Bart. "My parents do, and my granddad- and uncle and aunt do. We just burp away."

"I can't stand the sound of burping," admitted Kelly. "Just sounds… well, disgusting."

"But it feels good to burp! It let's out all of that gas built up in your chest and let's it all out!"

"I still can't stand it."

"Suit yourself." Bart took another sip of his soda. Bart began to gaze out upon the beautiful city skyline that cemented the iconic view of Central City. Kelly looked over at Bart, while she finished off eating a Kit-Kat. "You OK, Bart?" she asked. "You look like you've got something on your mind."

"Hm? Oh, yeah. It's nothing, Kelly. I just… Can I ask you something?" he said hesitantly.

"**Anything**, Bart."

He gulped. Bart knew he was going to do something really sweet, or really stupid. No turning back now, he spoke out. "Do you wanna go out with me?"

Kelly, though not surprised that Bart asked him that, and was even expecting him to say it, she was caught off guard from Bart's tone. But even though she knew Bart was going to ask her that question, she didn't really give an immediate answer, pondering about it for a moment or two. Even still, Kelly could not come up with a solid answer. All she could do was simply say; "I'll think about it."

"Oh… that's ok." Bart sulked into his chest.

"Look, Bart, I wish I could give you an answer right now, but I just can't come up with one," clarified Kelly. "I can't say yes and I can't say no. I can't give you an answer until I can find one. I'll… I'll let you know soon…"

"Yeah. Sure."

It was awkward silence between the two of them for the rest of the time they stayed up there. Neither one of them wanted, or had anything to say. Bart continued to sulk, while Kelly just gazed aimlessly at the city, thinking. "It's getting late, Bart," said Kelly. "Maybe we should be heading home."

"Alright." Bart collected the trash and shoved it back into the plastic bag. Kelly wrapped her arms around Bart again, and with a blink of an eye, they were gone yet again.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Meanwhile: <strong>

Mirror Master got aggravated again, when he saw the yellow dot move yet again, this time traveling across the other side of town, near the rundown neighborhood he used to live in. "Goddamn, can this guy **ever **stay still?" he complained.

"Where is he now?" asked Captain Cold.

"In the rundown area of the city," said Mirror Master. "He's stopped close to where I live. Looks like he's not moving, yet. I know just the way we can get the drop on him."

"With what?" asked Heatwave.

"Hold on to me, will you?" The Rogues all placed their hands on Mirror Master. On his helmet installed was a little mirror that Mirror Master could look into. And almost immediately, the whole group glow white lights and they quickly disappeared from their spot.

* * *

><p>Bart and Kelly had now returned home to Kelly's home on the edge of the street. They both shared another awkward glance, before Kelly walked over to go back inside her home. "Question," he said to her. "Do you think I can use your recycling bin to throw out this stuff?"<p>

"Yeah, sure," said Kelly. "Night, Bart. I'll… I'll talk to you tomorrow, OK?"

"Ok. See ya later." Kelly entered back into her home, while Bart slowly walked over to the blue recycling container to throw the bag away inside.

When Kelly entered inside the home she was unfortunately greeted by her mother, standing by the staircase, her arms crossed. "Where did **you **go, Kelly?" she said.

"Out with a friend for a little while," answered Kelly. "It wasn't for long."

"You could've **told **me you were heading out."

"**You **would've said no."

"Maybe I would've. Who was it?"

"Bart, of course. I barely even hang out with the other guys anymore."

"Good. They've been nothing but bad influences."

"Mom, I really don't need this lecture right now, can I… can I just go to bed?"

"If you insist… I was just worried, that's all, honey."

"It's fine. I understand."

While all of this was happening, the white light shined yet again, this time in the backyard. The Rogues had reappeared, dazed through their travel. "I must hand it to Mazdan," said Mirror Master. "He really did give us some interesting power boosts."

"Yeah, yeah," interrupted Captain Boomerang, who pulled out two of his boomerangs from his satchel. Through his hands, the boomerangs began to conduct a purple misty energy. "Now let's get this sucker!"

With one swing, Captain Boomerang threw his boomerangs over at the blue recycling bin that Bart was stationed at, and they all watched as the bin exploded, knocking Bart back. They stood in the front yard now, as even Captain Boomerang was impressed with the sort of powers he was given. "All righty!" expressed Captain Boomerang. "I can make things explode!"

"That would be called **kinetic energy,**" corrected Mirror Master.

"Whatever, shit goes boom, that's all that really matters, yeah?"

When Kelly and her Mother walked out of the front door, they were shocked to see that the Rogues were now in their front yard, attacking Bart. But what really shocked them the most was the presence of a man they would never thought would return… "**Dad?**" uttered Kelly.

"**Sam**?" her mother followed up.

Mirror Master looked back to see Kelly standing on the front porch, scared for her life. "**Kelly? Miranda?**"

This was a startling revelation for Bart. Though he was aware that her father wasn't the best man ever, considering the fact he had done jail time, but to discover that her father was Mirror Master, completely took Bart by surprise. "Dad?!" screamed Bart. "Mirror Master's your **father**, Kelly?"

"You're **friends **with this punk?" asked Mirror Master.

"What are you **doing **here, Sam?!" demanded Miranda. "You're on a restraining order from ever coming close to us again!"

"My buddies and I got another job offer," said Mirror Master. "Hopefully it'll be our last. Someone's offered us everything we hoped for to get this speedster in his possession."

"What are you going to do with him?" she snapped back at them.

"Take him in, of course," explained Mirror Master.

"Samuel Scudder, stop it," said his wife. "You're causing a stir in the neighborhood. How could you even do such a thing? You **helped **save the city last year!"

"We did. But once a villain, always a villain, am I right, guys?"

The Rogues just all gave Mirror Master a reassuring nod. "You two better look away now, cause this is going to get messy."

While the Rogues were focused on Kelly and her mother, this gave Bart the chance to retaliate back, he created a whirlwind with his left arm, that he shot out at the Rogues, knocking them all back. Bart quickly spun around in a circle multiple times to change into his Impulse costume. "Kelly, get inside!" said Bart. "I'll deal with these guys!"

The two moved back into their homes and locked all the doors shut. Bart was now stuck in a pickle; between him and six other super powered Rogues. He had never dealt with the Rogues before, let alone ones that now had superpowers. This may be a tricky situation. Heatwave, while still lying on the ground, shot out three fireballs out of his hand in a row, all directed towards Impulse. Bart dodged all of them with ease. As all the Rogues got back up, Impulse was fast approaching them, but Trickster and Pied Piper stepped upfront. Pied whistled a little tune from his throat, which slowed Bart down immensely. When Impulse got very close to the Rogues, Trickster had his hand grew five times it's size, wielding massive fists that he used to smack Impulse around, before throwing another hit at him, flinging him into a car. The other Rogues looked back at the two, amazed. "Nice job, you two," Heatwave complemented.

Impulse quickly got back up, but was quickly intercepted by Mirror Master, who came out of the rear mirror of the car and tackled him to the ground. "Quick!" he said. "Cold, freeze him down!" But they weren't fast enough, as Impulse shoved Mirror Master off him and quickly dodged a blast from Cold's freeze blasts. Heatwave joined in with Cold to blast Impulse down with their fire and cold powers respectively. But when Impulse sped in between them, they ended up hitting each other with their powers. This quick victory by Impulse was ruined when he could notice three boomerangs all heading towards him. Impulse tried to speed past them, but they followed him. Impulse was left having to keep these things from not hitting him, but when Cold froze Impulse's foot to the ground, the boomerangs impacted on Impulse, exploding in front of him. No matter what he was doing, he couldn't take all six of them on his own. He needed back up. Quickly, he created a little mini tornado that he began to circle around the Rogues to keep them away from him. While inside the tornado, Impulse pulled out a cellular phone that he gripped tightly so it wouldn't end up getting sucked out of the tornado, and called up Barry…

* * *

><p><span><strong>The Allen's House:<strong>

Barry sat on his bed, exhausted and tired, having taken a multitude of pills and continuously moving around in circles, using up all of his speed energy to tire himself out some more. Now, he relaxed, and was close to finally falling to sleep. Iris came into the room to comfort her husband, all the while consciously worrying about her condition as well. Barry looked over at her wife, and held her hand. "It'll be ok, Iris," he said to her. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

"I hope so, Barry," spoke Iris. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Which is good. Maybe I can finally get some sleep tonight. We'll go meet Ray tomorrow."

"I'll let you go to bed then, honey. I'll wait up a little longer until Bart comes home-" just then, Iris could see Barry's phone vibrating, and she picked it up to see it was Bart calling. "Speaking of Bart." She handed the phone over to Barry, who swiped his thumb across the screen and pressed the phone against his ear. "Bart, where have you been?" nonchalantly asked Barry.

"BarryIneedyoutheRoguesarebackandtheyhavesuperpowersnowandIcanttakethemonbymyselfbecauseIveneverfacedtheseguysbeforeandtheirwreckingtheneighborhoodandmeforthatmattercouldyougetoverhereandhelpme?"

"Jeeze, Bart, slow down. Did you just say the **Rogues **were back? And they have **superpowers**?"

"**Yes! **And they are pummeling me! Now get over here before I end up being paste! I'm at Kelly's place, hurry!"

Barry jumped out of bed and slowly (for his speed) put on his Flash costume. "You think you have enough energy to even **deal **with them, Barry?" asked Iris.

"I have to help Bart. He's never faced the Rogues before, and if what he says is true, he's going to be destroyed by them."

Iris got up close to Barry and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Be careful, honey."

"I will. I always am." And he was now off, leaving a trail of yellow light behind.

* * *

><p>Back with Impulse, he continued to dodge everything the Rogues threw at him; fireballs, hail bombs, and exploding boomerangs, not to mention the surprise attacks made by Mirror Master, Trickster and Pied Piper. Impulse was lucky to be still alive, he thought to himself. But he felt he wasn't going to last much longer against these guys. But lucky for him, help was on the way, as another streak of yellow light smacked Captain Cold's jaw, knocking him into Heatwave and Captain Boomerang like bowling pins. Flash looked over at Impulse, whose costume was ripped and was suffering cuts and bruises all over his body. "You all right, Bart?" asked Flash.<p>

"I'll manage, now that you're here," answered Impulse.

"You were right. The Rogues **do **have superpowers. How did they get those... ?"

"Don't know…" Impulse quickly noticed that Captain Boomerang had thrown yet another exploding boomerangs at Flash. "Look out-"

But Flash's slow reaction time ended up causing Flash to be hit by the boomerang, sending him back. Flash got back up to see the Rogues all running towards the two. "Oh boy," he murmured. "This is going to be tough." Flash then whizzed at the Rogues, punching them each in the face, and then continued to hit the Rogues in weak spots all over their bodies. Even then, the Rogues just shrugged these hits off. Captain Cold quickly froze Flash's legs to the ground. While Flash struggled to get out, Impulse made an attempt to free Flash, but he was gripped by Trickster's huge hands, who kept him from freeing him. The Rogues then initiated one last trick to take the Flash out. Heatwave and Captain Boomerang threw projectiles to weaken the Flash, while Mirror Master appeared out of floating mirrors that appeared behind Flash, and each of those mirrors came arms that held his arms and head back. Pied Piper came over to Flash and began to whistle another tune out, this one resembling a lullaby. Flash quickly started to fall asleep, mesmerized by the tune, until he was knocked out cold. Cold broke him out of the ice that confined him to the ground. The Rogues all regrouped together, as Heatwave picked Flash up over his shoulder. "Good job, everyone," said Mirror Master. "Now let's head back to Mazdan and give this sucker to him."

"Hey, uh, what do we do with **this **guy here?" asked Trickster, who was now dragging his arm that extended out, and at the end was his big fist squeezing a beaten and wounded Impulse in his grasp.

"Mazdan asked for one speedster," stated Mirror Master. "We might as well leave him be. Knock him out, will you? Don't want him following us back."

"With pleasure," said Heatwave, who took it to him to deck Impulse across the face, knocking him out cold. Trickster loosened his grip on Impulse and retracted his arm back to its regular form. The Rogues surrounded Mirror Master yet again, and with the white flash of light, they were gone.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Warehouse:<strong>

The white light flashed yet again, this time inside the Warehouse. Mazdan turned around to see that the Rogues have returned, and as promised, brought them the Flash. "We got what you wanted," said Heatwave.

"Excellent work, you six," stated Mazdan. "Once I have harnessed his speed force energy, I can return home and give you all what you so desire."

"Damn right!" cried Captain Boomerang.

"Now, would you all be good boys and help me out with the procedure. It's the least you could do for me…"

* * *

><p><strong>Flash has been beaten! Impulse is defeated, and the Rogues And Mazdan now have The Flash in their possession! How will Impulse find him now? What will happen to Flash? How does this all end with the Rogues? Catch the final part of this arc coming very soon! Meanwhile, you can favorite this story, follow it, and leave a comment if you liked this story, and check out the other stories on DC Prime now!<strong>


	9. Upgrades Part 3

**The Flash Issue 9**

"**Upgrades" Part 3**

**Written by Bodhi Ouellette**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Warehouse:<strong>

The Flash woke up from his defeat from the Rogues, and looks around to see that he is inside of a rundown warehouse. He tries to move his arms and legs, but quickly realizes that they are both locked inside large metal braces that are bolted into the wall; his waste was also confined by a metal band that was also wrapped around and bolted in the wall. When he looked forward, he had his first glance at just who was responsible for his kidnapping. Mazdan was sitting before him in an old wooden chair, smiling. "Hello, Flash," said Mazdan.

He growled. "**Mazdan,**" he replied. "I thought you were still in Belle Reve."

"I managed to get out," answered Mazdan. "I got into the pockets of the Prison Guards and the Warden, and I miraculously made it out."

"Still trying to find a way back to the future?"

"Correct. This time I've found a way that my journey back will succeed."

"Well, good for you. So, why am **I **here, exactly?"

"Well, that's the thing; in order for me to return back into my present and your future, I need to harness your speed force energy, with this little box I have in my hands. Once it's finished, it will absorb all the speed force energy you have, and it'll be enough energy to make at least one trip. Unfortunately, the amount of energy that will be taken will leave you either very weak, or dead."

"Oh... not good."

"Maybe not for you. For me; well... at least I'll be back in my own time. And really, that's all that matters." Mazdan looked back at the Rogues when he heard a large thud sound coming from behind, and saw that Trickster and Pied Piper had dropped a heavy piece of equipment. "Be careful with that!" he roared. "That is highly advanced technology you're holding in your hands! If you break that, you're dead!" He brought his focus back onto Flash again.

"How do the Rogues factor in your plan?" asked Flash.

"I supported them with power boosts, and whatever they so desire, in exchange for getting you. I'd say it was a fair deal, don't you think?"

"Are you going to make keep on your **promises**, Mazdan?"

"That is none of your concern. If I were you, I'd be quiet until I put the finishing touches on the device. It's not like you're going anywhere, are you?" Mazdan got up from the chair and went back to his working desk. All Flash could do was observe the things that the Rogues were doing within the Warehouse...

* * *

><p><strong>Keighley's Neighborhood:<strong>

The Central City Police Department had arrived a long time ago, sectioning off the whole block and evacuating all of the neighbors on that street, including Keighley and her mother. While her mother was being treated for injuries, Keighley glanced over and saw the paramedics are taking care of Impulse, who was just getting back his consciousness. Keighley walked over to confront Bart. "Ba- Impulse, I need to speak to you."

"Sorry, ma'am, you need to back away from him, we're patching him up," said one of the Paramedics.

"I'm fine, guys," stated Impulse. "My super speed gives me an enhanced healing factor. Heck, I'm feeling loads better already. Go. Take care of the others who may have been injured."

The paramedics did as Impulse asked them to do, and they left him, leaving him and Keighley to speak to each other alone. It was still awkward between them. "So... you're dad's a **super villain**," commented Bart. "How does that feel?"

"Embarrassing," said Keighley. "I remember the first time my dad went out in that costume he wore. And when he first got arrested, the kids in school made fun of me because of it. I felt **ashamed **of myself. That's why I went down the wrong crowd, turned myself into an outcast. Because no one else wanted to be friends with me."

"Jeeze... I'm... I'm sorry that happened to you."

"Don't be. My father's **dead** to me anyways. And you know what? I know **exactly **where he is."

"Tell me, then."

"When he was still living with us, he usually headed out into the forest to meet up with friends in an old warehouse located in the forest."

"Friends I assume are the Rogues, right?"

"**Precisely**."

"Then I guess I should head to that Warehouse." Impulse got back on his feet, and was ready to zoom away, until Keighley grabbed his shoulder.

"Before you go," said Keighley. "I just... I just want to tell you... **Yes. **Yes, I'll go out with you. When this is all over, we should... go somewhere. **Anywhere.**"

"That's what I was thinking of," he smirked. Keighley then kissed Bart on the cheek. Then, Impulse sped off, leaving his yellow trail behind.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Warehouse:<strong>

Flash, still confined to the braces on the wall, continued to watch the Rogues and Mazdan continued to work. Mazdan had now tuned himself out from the rest of the group, completely focused on the box. While the Rogues' job was done, so they lounged around the Warehouse, bored, nothing to do. The closest Rogue member to the Flash was Captain Cold, who watched his arm as he manipulated a snowball moving around it. "Why did you do it, Leonard?" asked the Flash, which caught Leonard's attention. "Why did you agree to do this? You helped **save **Central City years ago. People considered you to be **heroes.** Now what are they going to think of you all now?"

"You say that like you **know **my life," said Captain Cold. "Like you know **any **of our lives."

"I know enough about you all to understand you not bad people. You're a small time crook who looked to aim for something bigger, so you made yourself some Cold guns and, instead of using them for good, you used them to rob banks. I'm just saying, you could've used your guns to do things to help people."

"You keep giving me that lecture and I'm tired of hearing it, Flash."

"I'm just saying you guys can sometimes do some very poor decisions."

"Right. Well, for your information, I've been doing some small jobs around the world to save up for some money."

"For **yourself**?"

"For my **sister.** She was diagnosed with early stage Cancer. Both of us were flat broke, and someone needed to get the money. So, I thought why not do some work for hire jobs. The jobs ranged. Some good; some bad. But all of them were successful, and all of them payed well. But as the tumor got worse, then the more money I needed to get. Now I'm here, scoring not only a guaranteed cure for my sister, but I get to keep these new sweet powers. I'd say that's a fair trade."

"Fair enough." Leonard simply smirked, and was about to walk away, until Flash stopped him again. "You know Mazdan isn't going to give you what you want," he stated.

Leonard turned around again, with a dumbfounded face. "How would you know?"

"I've crossed paths with Mazdan before a while back. Same thing occurred with him as it probably will with you guys as well."

"Which is... ?"

"A while back, Mazdan was searching the globe, robbing tech from S.T.A.R. Labs with an affiliate with him, and Mazdan promised him the same thing you guys asked. Mazdan gave him some powers to help him complete his scheme; in return to help him save someone he loved from dying. When the job was completed, he found out that Mazdan wasn't going to give anything to him. And the worst part; **he **was the one ended up dying. Mazdan had laced his powers with an activation code that killed him instantly."

"You're serious."

"I wouldn't be lying to you if I didn't know Mazdan's shtick. He's a thief, and a liar. And he will take advantage of **anyone **to get what he wants. Please, Leonard. Trust your instincts. Tell the others. Warn them that Mazdan is playing with you. For the sake of your **dignity.**"

Leonard took a long time to consider what Flash had just said. Though he may despise the Flash with a burning passion, he can agree that Mazdan seems odd in the way he convinced him and the others to do this dirty job. So Leonard took up on Flash's plea. He walked towards the middle of the Warehouse and called for the rest of the Rogues to come over to him. The Rogues now enclosed in a circle, that Cold had to make sure that Mazdan didn't overhear him. "Ok, so you may think that I'm crazy," whispered Captain Cold, "but Flash over there just told me some... **interesting **facts about Mr. Mazdan over there."

"Who cares what he says," said Captain Boomerang. "In a matter of minutes, he's gonna finish up with that box, Flash is gonna be history, and we're going to get **everything **we've hoped for."

"That's the thing," pointed out Cold. He leaned even further. "He told me he's fought Mazdan before. And he told me that when they first met, Mazdan had an accomplishment helping him out, and he had given him super powers too, **and **promised him to help save his dying wife."

"Oh yeah... I remember that guy," said Heatwave. "I wondered what happened to him."

"He's dead. Mazdan double-crossed him; not only did he not cure his wife, but when he found out he didn't cure her, he tried to take him out, and Mazdan **easily **defeated him. Which means the **same **thing will happen to us if we don't do something about it."

"So what? We shut our mouths about it and let him do what he wants."

"He promised me to cure my sisters cancer. He promised all of you anything you wanted. And as you all know, I **hate **people who don't keep their end of the bargain."

The Rogues all looked at each other, conflicted. "Do what you need to do," said Mirror Master. "If what Flash said is true... then Mazdan is **dead**." The Rogues all nodded. Mazdan jumped out of his chair and held his box out. "It's done!" he said excitingly. "Come you six! Come and watch as your worst enemy dies by the hands of my weapon." Mazdan held out his box at Flash and was about to begin stealing the speed force energy, but Cold stepped forward.

"Hold a minute," stopped Cold. "Before you go ahead and off him, we all want to know if you've got what we want."

Mazdan turned around, cautiously and stared at the Rogues. "Well, for some of you, your requests are a bit too big to prove."

"Not all of them," stated Cold. "You could at least show me the cure to my sisters cancer. Think you can do that for me, please?"

"You're interrupting me from obtaining my key home-"

"And all **we're **asking is that you hold up to the bargain. Now, all you need to do, is show me the cure, and we'll back off."

Mazdan grew cold and silent. Cold had broken the code. Flash was right, Mazdan was bullshitting them. "There is no cure, is there?"

"You'd expect me to get all of the requests you've asked for me done for tonight?"

"That doesn't matter to us. We like to **see **what we're getting before cheated out of a deal. Trust me, we've done this plenty of times before. So either you back away from the Flash, or **we'll **be forced to kick your scrawny ass."

"You're all **bastards,**" complained Mazdan. "And I was hoping we wouldn't have to spill more blood tonight…"

Mazdan quickly pulled out two gold bars the length of his hand span and at the end of the bars was a red laser that he shot at the Rogues. Cold immediately retaliated with a cold blast at Mazdan's head, freezing his lower neck and mouth. Quickly, the rest of the Rogues engaged into Mazdan. Mirror Master grabbed him and threw him across the Warehouse, hitting the broken wall, but Mazdan shot his laser back at Mirror Master. Trickster came charging over towards Mazdan, transforming into a massive Jack-in-the-Box, winding up his fist that would have hit Mazdan, had not for his golden bars creating a large energy shield over him, saving him from getting hit in the wall again. Trickster formed back to normal and used his major fists to pull Mazdan out and throw him into Captain Boomerang, who threw three more boomerangs that impacted into the concrete ground below Mazdan, exploding, knocking him back. He jumped back up to initiate a large laser attack, circling his body around the room, with the lasers still active, making a big black burn marks all across the warehouse. When Captain Boomerang threw another boomerang at Mazdan, the kinetic energy that engulfed the surface of it disappeared before it could even make impact on Mazdan.

"What the bloody hell?!" cried Captain Boomerang. "You should've been blown to kingdom come by now!"

Mazdan snickered, and retaliated by blasting Captain Boomerang back with his laser.

Meanwhile, Impulse had finally found the warehouse that Keighley was certain that her father and the other Rogues were hiding out in. Her speculation was correct, as he entered to see the Rogues taking a massive beating on Mazdan. Impulse, letting them duke it out, ran towards the Flash to try to remove him from the wall, trying to break him out. Impulse vibrated all of the clamps off the walls, freeing the Flash. "Thanks," said Flash.

"Don't mention it," replied Impulse. "So, what's going on with them?"

"I told them the truth about Mazdan; that he's a liar and a thief. Mazdan didn't take that well, so now they're fighting."

"Well, at least that means less work for us.

"It's **more **work for us, Bart. Now we have to make sure that they don't end up **killing **him."

"Right, so let them duke it out and interfere before they make their final blow?"

"Doesn't seem like that will last. Look." Flash pointed at the battle, where Mazdan was currently engaging in Trickster, who had transformed his arms into clamps that he used to grab onto Mazdan, squeezing as hard as he can. But eventually, the clamps shrunk back into Trickster, reforming into his regular arms. Trickster looked back confused, while he had to endure a hit by Mazdan. "They're losing their powers," pointed out Flash.

"We better intervene now, before the others lose their powers too and get **themselves **killed."

Heatwave had created a ring of circle around Mazdan, trapping him inside of the intense heat and moving flames. But with one propelled jump from boosters installed in his shoes, Mazdan was able to get out of the ring of fire and descend down on Heatwave. He tried to shoot fireballs at Mazdan, only for nothing to come out of his hands, and got kicked in the face by Mazdan. Heatwave got back up, with a startling revelation. "Our powers are disappearing!" announced Heatwave. "We better hurry this up, or else we're all screwed!"

"We've got it!" said the Flash, who burst into the fight kicking Mazdan in the sides, followed by a kick in the shin, which brought Mazdan onto his knees, and then a massive uppercut to the face. But Mazdan was fast enough to shoot yet another laser blast into Flash, knocking him onto the ground. He climbed onto Flash, and pulled out the metal box he would've used to steal the Speed Force energy with on him. "I've **just **had about enough of you, Flash!" yelled Mazdan. "Now watch as your life withers away from my box!"

But Mazdan's seemingly victory was vanquished, when Captain Cold struck Mazdan across the face with big ice hands that hit him hard enough that it knocked him out. Cold helped the Flash up, and he returned his gratitude with a reassuring smile. "I knew you guys would listen to me," said Flash.

"Yeah, yeah. If it weren't for **me,** you'd be dead, and we would have been cheated out on what we were promised," stated Cold.

"We still are, Leonard," added Mirror Master.

"You don't have to keep reminding me, Sammy."

"So, what? Does this mean we don't have any powers anymore?" asked Captain Boomerang.

"Afraid so, it seems," said Flash. "I guess whatever you took was only for a limited time."

"Ugh. What a load of bollocks."

"Can I promise you guys you won't be doing any more bad things anytime soon?"

"Don't worry; I'm not going anywhere **near **Central City for a long time," stated Heatwave.

"Me too," added Captain Boomerang. "I need to find other avenues of criminal activity. One's that **aren't **in America, so I don't have to deal with you buggers."

"You know, I could still take you all out if I wanted to."

"Meh. We saved your ass, remember?"

"After you **kidnapped **me."

"Big deal."

"Don't worry, Flash," said Captain Cold. "We're going to make sure we don't do anything bad for a long time. As for me, well, I still need to look for money to save my sister."

"You know, you're more than welcome to approach some of my buddies for help. There's tons of guys you can go to who I'm sure would be willing to help your sister out."

"I'll think about it. Alright, boys, let's get the hell outta this junk heat." The Rogues all made their way out of the Warehouse, leaving the Flash and Impulse to deal with Mazdan.

"Another job well done, I'd say," declared Impulse.

"Yeah. Let's bring Mazdan back to jail and make sure he **stays **in prison."

"I second that."

* * *

><p><strong>The Allen's House:<strong>

Flash and Impulse have finally returned home from their very long night out. "Ah… Can't wait to finally go to bed," sighed Barry. "It's been a **long **day for me, made even longer by tonight."

"Same here. I think I'll be in my bed for the next, oh I don't know, three days straight."

"I'll allow it. Just as long as you get your homework done."

"You've got it, Grand-dad!"

"Please don't say that," he replied. "Iris! We're home," called out Barry. When he didn't get a response, he called out again. "Iris?!" But they could hear something happening upstairs; a vibration sound familiar to the two of them. Flash and Impulse walked upstairs, and slowly entered in his living room, and what they saw shocked them both. Iris was vibrating at a very fast rate. She was barely visible. Iris reached out at her husband. "Barry... what's happening to me?" she uttered.

"I... don't know," he said terrified for her wife's life. "But we need to find out **what **is happening to you..."

* * *

><p><strong>Ivy Town:<strong>

The home of one Ray Palmer and his wife Jean Loring was a large one, the front lawn massive in size and decorated in flowers planted next to a stone pathway that lead to their front door. Inside, the rooms were large, and the lack of furniture made them seem even larger. The ceilings were massive as well, reflecting this fact even more. Upstairs, in their bedroom, Ray and Jean cuddle up against each other in their king sized bed, happily asleep, until they could hear the doorbell ring multiple times consecutively. Ray woke up to the noise of the doorbell. "I swear, if it's those kids across the street again…" he grumbled. He made his way out of his bed and out of the bedroom, stepping down the staircase to approach the door. He opened the door to find the shock of his friend and fellow Justice League member Flash holding Iris in his arms, who is still vibrating, and Impulse who is standing behind him. "Barry?" he uttered. "What are you-"

"Ray, I need your help, right now," desperately asked Flash. "My wife is having these weird things occurring to her, and I need your help to find out why."

"Right. Right," Ray repeated, becoming more and more awake. "Quick, get inside and follow me to the basement."

Flash and Impulse followed him inside of his house. By then, Jean had awoken as well and came out of the bedroom leaning beside the guard rails of the stairs, in confusion. "Ray, what's going on?" she asked.

"Jean, I'm going to need your assistance in my basement," ordered Ray. "Barry's wife's on the fritz."

"**Fritz**?" she followed the others down into the Basement, which was reserved for a small lab Ray installed for any work he had to do at home. Ray moved some supplies off a metal table to make room for the still vibrating Iris. Barry came close into Iris' now inaudible face. "Iris, can you hear me? Can you talk?" asked of her husband.

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII caaaaaaannnnnnnnnn, BBBBBBBBaaaaaaaaarrrryyyyy," conjured up Iris, her vibration slowing and echoing her voice down a lot.

Ray came beside him with a large needle that's already been primed with a clear liquid substance. He taps on the top of the syringe to get rid of any air bubbles. "I'm going to try to sedate her," stated Ray. "Hopefully that'll calm her down and get her back to normal."

Flash worryingly looked back at Iris, who just nodded her head. "Do it." She whispered. Flash stepped aside as Ray moved forward and stabbed the needle inside where he thinks is the inside of her forearm. After pressing down on the syringe and allowing for the medicine to kick in, it managed to calm Iris down and bring her back to a normal state. She lied on the table, unconscious. "Good. She's stable," said Ray. "I'm going to run some tests on her, Barry. Could you tell me anything that I might want to know about her before I dive in and find out what the problem may be?"

"Uhm, yeah, sure," stumbled Barry. "She's 5'7", 27 years old… Uhm- trying to find something more relevant-"

"Let's start with this; when did this start happening?"

"She first experienced strange physical changes tonight, around six o'clock. I noticed that her eyes changed from her regular green color to brown. Then it changed again to yellow. It continued to change colors throughout the night; red, blue, black, pink, and others. When Bart and I returned home after battling the Rogues, we came home to find that Iris' body was vibrating, like that of me or Impulse."

"Hm… anything else?" he glanced over at Iris' stomach, which he noticed a small bump extending out like a pregnant woman. "Is your wife **pregnant?**"

"Yes, but, she's not due for another eight or so months? How do you know?"

"Because she's got a bump like that of someone who's pregnant," answered Ray, when Flash and Impulse looked, they say the bump too.

"What the heck?" expressed Barry. "That bump wasn't there this morning."

"Hm. Jean, get my Atom suit ready," told Ray. Jean went over to bring over his suit. He began to slip inside of the suit, with Jean's assistance of assembling it. Ray then placed his helmet on his head, ready to go inside Iris to investigate. "Barry, this may sound wrong in context, but with your consent; will you allow me to enter into your wife?"

"I give you my permission. Just find out what's wrong with my wife."

"Oh, don't worry, Barry… I may have an idea what the problem is…"

* * *

><p><strong>The Speedsters, and the Rogues were victorious this day. But the situation with Iris is heating up. What is causing this to happen to her? In the next arc, we find out why, and we turn to tell a tale about the speedsters that live in Keystone City. And that's not all... A NEW SPEEDSTER JOINS THE OTHERS IN THE NEXT ARC OF THE FLASH!<strong>

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